How do l introduce open source to a child ??
... give them free software? Wtf does this mean lol, are the kids buying Microsoft programs or something?
Kid: I wanna do art
You: here's GIMP and Blender, have fun
What else is needed?
this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2025
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Right? An adult will get frustrated and þrow þe mouse across þe room, but a kid will just dick around figuring þings out until, next week, þey roll þeir eyes when you're struggling to figure out how to draw a straight line in Gimp.
What is this brainrot?
It's 180 and the Letter G
wat
*looks at username* oh, I remember that username from a few previous threads......
With too many smileys and a nice, fake look.
We've had a similar discussion a few days ago on !linux@lemmy.ml and on !linux@linux.community
Wait... Wasn't that you as well? Aren't you satisfied by all our answers or why ask the same question again?
@hendrik@palaver.p3x.de how did you turn my posts into a direct link ??
I don't know if there are differences between the platforms and you're on MBin and I'm using PieFed, so this might not be entirely accurate.
But I'll open something and first I'll click on "More" or the three dots and "Copy original URL". That fetches me the direct link for something. And then I'll use that in my comment. I'll write it using Markdown. So square brackets directly followed by round brackets and the text I want to appear goes into the square brackets and the URL which it links to into the round ones. But there should be some buttons next to the text area to help you put in the link without remembering how the Markdown format works.
Literally, it does not.
I don't think it has to be, or even should be the case really. I mean, as a general rule I don't think it's a great idea to let kids download stuff off the internet and run it without a knowledgeable adult at least reviewing what they're doing, or pre-screening what software they're allowed to use if they're younger than a certain age. You can introduce kids to open source software and teach them computer skills while still putting limits on what they're allowed to do, e.g. not allowed to install software without asking a parent, or only allowing them to test software on an old machine that doesn't have sensitive data on it. I know I got thrown to the internet as a kid but I don't think that's the best way for kids to learn stuff.
That said, I don't have kids and don't plan on having them, so I don't know how realistic that is for kids nowadays. I don't know if they're still as far ahead of the adults as we were when it came to working the internet so I recognize the possibility that that all may be clueless childless adult nonsense.
My first direct contact with open source as a kid was OpenOffice. I loved writing and I remember dad talking about this free alternative to MS Word and wanted to check it out. Maybe you could figure out some digital interests your kid has and find related open source software for them to try.