[vood]

This is such a weird thing to read. You try to project your ideas on the kids, thinking that is the best thing to do. Let them be.

I learned Linux when I was like 13 or 14 and not because my father told me. He didn't know much about computers in early 2000/late 90ties.

The curiosity, the desire to learn, the need to set up my own isp, the need to start to make money, the curiosity of how html, php and other stuff worked let me to Linux.

Teach them how to be curious and feed that curiosity, the rest will happen.

And if they choose Mac over Linux, just get of their way, otherwise they will rebel.

[OccamsMirror]

You're not wrong. But I think you fail to realise that everything you did on computers in the late 90s and early 2000s had friction by default. Even on Windows. Modern devices are friction free and designed to passively hold your attention as much as possible.

Introducing alternative computing to your children so they actually learn skills isn't about control it's about giving them exposure. If all they see are iPads and Chromebooks, they’ll think that’s all there is and then compare the frustration of trying to do things with a real computer to the ease of just consuming content. I think that frustration is the point for a developing brain. It teaches problem-solving. Requires focus and patience. Rewards perseverance.

Curiosity needs a spark. Sometimes that spark is just showing them a terminal and letting them poke around, or getting them in to Scratch or any of the similar game design visual coding platforms.

Not everything has to be fun or easy. Struggle is part of learning. As a parent, we are up against an industry built to keep kids from ever getting bored. There's no guarantee they'll go down a more rewarding and impactful path if you are too handsoff. Especially in the early years.

[sharts]

Seems like need was a necessary prerequisite.

I’d agree that projecting ideas on to kids isn’t the greatest thing since it’s top-down. But so are most ideas that get pushed to kids via media, school, friends, etc. And many of those aren’t the best either.

[encom]

>You try to project your ideas on the kids

That's what parents do. My dad brought home a C64 back then, and a book about BASIC. We didn't have a joystick for it, so we built one together. He showed me how a speaker works by taking one apart. He taught me about HAM radio. Showed me neat stuff he built with electronics. Helped me with my math homework, because he was a goddamn math wizard. I watched him disassemble our piece of shit washing machine and fix it several times. None of it was mandatory or forced or nothing. It was more like, hey son take a look at this cool shit. And I thought it was cool, and my dad was the coolest dad ever because he knew all this stuff!

Sadly, he was taken from us too soon. I often wonder what he'd think about the tech and electronics of today.

[graemep]

Because children have the necessary skills and understanding to choose an OS? Most adults do not!

[bbyford]

got to start somewhere...