| Who downvoted this man? I want this guy to succeed as much as you do, but we can't let him burn out. What Mr. Throwaway is saying isn't necessarily true, but you need to keep it in mind, because it's true enough. (Of course, if somebody on the 'net telling you it's impossible is enough to stop you, you were doomed from the start.) Mr. Throwaway is probably giving your parents too much credit. I suspect they're worried about you wasting your time. (Lord knows I do enough of that.) My recommendations: 1. Tell them about your radical plans to change the world, if you feel like you can. If you don't move on, don't put yourself or your mission in danger over their approval. 2. Try writing some code on paper. It doesn't "look" like wasting your time, and it trains your mental debugging skills. I found it helpful, if it's not working for you then move on.[0] 3. Do you have a phone? Install an SSH client and then program on your box over SSH. (If you use Windows or OSX, set up Linux in a virtual machine. If that doesn't make sense, then try to set up the remote session protocol supported by your OS.) If you don't, oh well. 4. Buy a pre-paid credit card or some such, and order a raspberry pi. Don't tell your parents. Have it shipped to a PO box if you can afford one or a friends house. (Ask your friend for permission first obviously.) Set it up where nobody will find it with thrift shop gear. (Old tv, mouse, keyboard.) A friends house might work if you can ask to come over a lot. If you don't have somewhere to set it up (where they won't find it), don't bother. You sound like a resourceful person, I'm sure you can figure something out. [0]: If you haven't yet, learn to touch type. Dvoraks or Qwerty. This will give you the superpower of being able to type a document without looking at the screen. Or more importantly, type a document while looking at something else. Giving you transcription superpowers. I recommend gtypist. Happy Hacking! |