Games. The first computers kids will start to wonder about are the ones they're using to play games, be it a game console, tablet, or PC. Modding comes first, slightly tweaking the game to add a new item, map, or remove some annoying limitation. The truly curious and persistent kids will eventually want to learn how to make their own games. This is where you'll find the next generation of programmers.
My Kid Will Never Hack Linux
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Re: My Kid Will Never Hack Linux
#12Games. The first computers kids will start to wonder about are the ones they're using to play games, be it a game console, tablet, or PC. Modding comes first, slightly tweaking the game to add a new item, map, or remove some annoying limitation. The truly curious and persistent kids will eventually want to learn how to make their own games. This is where you'll find the next generation of programmers.
This is exactly how I got into writing software. First, I got bored with playing the same scenarios in Command & Conquer over and over. So I learned to make my own. Then I got tired of some of those hacking utilities crashing (all the time!) and said I could do it better myself. So I taught myself to write software.
20 years later... I see people being hired who have no clue how things work under the hood and it makes me very, very, sad.
Re: My Kid Will Never Hack Linux
#13There are plenty of small, toy-level kernels out there for people to cut their teeth on. Linux used to be this way, now it's more grown up. There's nothing wrong with that, no reason people have to specifically target the Linux kernel.
With Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and lots of other tinkerer platforms out there, the rising generation should have more opportunity than ever to experiment and learn about hardware and make meaningful open-source contributions.
While keeping the codebase of any project simple enough that a novice can pick it up with minimal difficulty is a great ideal, the real world generally limits that and forces some ugly/unpleasant complexity into place.
Re: My Kid Will Never Hack Linux
#14You can help them understand by writing and submitting documentation. Let's be honest, the linux kernel documentation mostly sucks and (more commonly) doesn't exist. PS Don't underestimate children. Some will learn C.
I taught myself C when I was 14.
This was back in the late 80's.
It would be a lot easier to do now.
Re: My Kid Will Never Hack Linux
#15Children growing up today won't learn C programming by reading the Linux kernel source code. With any luck, children growing up today won't learn C at all, or at least ONLY for historical understanding. It is an absolute security nightmare. Do we not want the next generation to exclusively use safe languages?
Then we need a 'safe' language that has the performance characteristics of C or assembly. Not there yet?
Fortran, Ada, Rust, D, and more.
Re: My Kid Will Never Hack Linux
#16Children growing up today won't learn C programming by reading the Linux kernel source code. With any luck, children growing up today won't learn C at all, or at least ONLY for historical understanding. It is an absolute security nightmare. Do we not want the next generation to exclusively use safe languages?
Then we need a 'safe' language that has the performance characteristics of C or assembly. Not there yet?
Rust is at least attempting to provide this. I haven't checked the benchmarks, but my understanding is that it's reasonably close for many applications.
Re: My Kid Will Never Hack Linux
#17"And we need to adapt our thinking accordingly: we don't need free and open source software and copyleft so that the next generation can hack the Linux kernel; we need it so they can hack a flying car." Jesus, if there was ever anything that shouldn't be developed like the Linux kernel, it is anything in the air large enough to cause damage if it crashes.
The Linux kernel could do way more damage than any flying car implementation if it failed spectacularly. Besides, it is well established that open source code is safer. If there is anywhere those safety benefits are definitely needed, it would be flying cars.
Re: My Kid Will Never Hack Linux
#18Re: My Kid Will Never Hack Linux
#19"And we need to adapt our thinking accordingly: we don't need free and open source software and copyleft so that the next generation can hack the Linux kernel; we need it so they can hack a flying car." Jesus, if there was ever anything that shouldn't be developed like the Linux kernel, it is anything in the air large enough to cause damage if it crashes.
> if there was ever ... enough to cause damage if it crashes.
Sure, let's learn from the past: let's make sure there is a monopoly behind flying cars. It will be nice when you will be flying your family on a Sunday afternoon and suddenly you will have to choose between up(?)grading to FlyingCars 10.0 (a.k.a. RustyBikeWithDoors) or paying your house's worth in ransom to get the privilege of landing safely one more time.
Re: My Kid Will Never Hack Linux
#20Children growing up today won't learn C programming by reading the Linux kernel source code. With any luck, children growing up today won't learn C at all, or at least ONLY for historical understanding. It is an absolute security nightmare. Do we not want the next generation to exclusively use safe languages?
While Rust is extremely promising, there is a ton of C code out there that isn't going away any time soon.