Fun Educational Morsels, Linux-Style
Bonjour, mes amis! Welcome back to myrestaurant, “Chez Marcel”. Please, sit down. In honor of thismonth's special educational focus, François has preparedyour tables (school desks, actually) by putting them all in a bigcircle. But of course, he will also be bringing your wine.
François! Du vin. Vite!
One of the questions I ask visitors to my restaurant is this:sure, you will cook with Linux at the office, but what will it takefor me to convince you to try some recipes at home? As you canimagine, I get many answers, but one I hear so often is, “Sure,Linux is tasty, but what will my kids play with? I have all thiswonderful educational software available on that other OS.”
Sacre bleu! Is that all? Well, pull your desks a bit closer,and together we will cook up an education and entertainment centerfor the kids (of all ages, non?) using Linux and open-sourcesoftware. And yes, I have tried them all.
In order to keep things lively, I have askedFrançois to hold off giving you the URL for all thesefine recipes until the very end. You may take your souvenir menu asyou leave the restaurant.
What's that? You think Chef Marcel has been sampling a littletoo much wine because he suggests turning the power of Linux overto a child? I assure you, mes amis, I have been drinking only asmuch as is necessary to ensure quality control. As for children,letting them have access to your system only makes sense.
Linux is a multi-user system by nature. Although a number ofus instinctively log in to the root account when we start up, thisis actually a very bad idea. The root login is there for you toperform administrative functions. While this is the first login wesee during an install, for some users it is also the last. This isnot only dangerous, but limits the reach of your Linux system.While you are logged in as root, create a user login for yourchild. Mon Dieu! Create one for everybody in the house! SinceFrançois is achild at heart, I willuse him for our example.
adduser francoispasswd francois
In order to make the experience of logging in as simple aspossible for the whole family, I recommend that you use one of thegraphical login programs. For KDE, this iskdm, while GNOME usesgdm. That old favouritexdm is still available, but theless Linux-savvy may find the default X Window System environment alittle less than friendly. On my Red Hat system, I set mypreference for kdm by modifying my rc.sysinit script. You'll findthat in the /etc/rc.d directory. The section you want looks likethis:
# Set preferred X display manager linkpreferred=kdmif [ -f /etc/sysconfig/desktop ]; thenif [ -n "`grep GNOME /etc/sysconfig/desktop`" ]; then preferred=gdm elif [ -n "`grep KDE /etc/sysconfig/desktop`" ]; then preferred=kdm elif [ -n "`grep AnotherLevel /etc/sysconfig/desktop`" ];then preferred=xdm fifiBy default, thepreferred= variable is not set.I changed mine so that it readspreferred=kdm.Another way to do the same thing is to edit the/etc/sysconfig/desktop file and simply put in the name of yourfavourite desktop environment. A couple of lines further on (in thenext paragraph of the rc.sysinit), the system sets the link forprefdm which is then started inyour /etc/inittab file.
ln -snf ../..`which kdm` /etc/X11/prefdmDuring your install, you may have been given the opportunity to letLinux boot into a graphical desktop. If you chose not to do this,you can still change your mind. This is the tail-end section of my/etc/inittab file:
# Run xdm in runlevel# xdm is now a separate servicex:5:respawn:/etc/X11/prefdm -nodaemonSimply add or edit the last line to the inittab, then run thefollowing command to activate it for next time and each successiveboot. You will want to do this when your X environment is notrunning.
init qThe reason for that overview is to get you used to the idea oflogging in and creating different profiles for all the users inyour family, each with their ownprotected environment. Now, fromyour own login, you can start adding games. I created a folder forFrançois, added and built various games, then copiedthese to his desktop. In KDE, when you create a folder on yourdesktop (or a link of some sort) you can find those items in afolder called “Desktop”. For François to have the samefolder when he logs in, I simply copy my folder to his desktop.Since I broke my own rules and am running as root, I will alsochange the permissions on his new folder so he is allowed to openit himself.
cd Desktopfind "Educational Games" -print |cpio -pduvm/home/francois/Desktopcd /home/francois/Desktopchown -R francois "Educational Games"# chgrp -R francois "Educational Games"
Figure Games Menu
When he logged in, his desktop had a nice little folder withall the appropriate links and icons. Incidentally, this is a greatway to maintain (and rebuild if need be) another user's desktop. Ifyou want my little folder (as an example), you can download it fromthe link at the end of the article. I've also included a web pagewith links to all the items we will sample, if you don't want to gohunting for everything on your own. (See Figure)
When starting your educational games collection for the kids,look no further than your desktop environment. Both KDE and GNOMEcome with several games (as does X), some of which fit the billvery nicely. (Non. That “bill” comes later.) Some of the KDEgames will have a counterpart in GNOME and vice versa. Your questis to find the one you like best.
For instance,. . .Reversiis a classic strategy game that requires some planning. In thiscase, the GNOME version (known asIagno) is more appealing to me forits animation and graphics. The only drawback (and the KDEversion's plus) is the lack of board lines. For the younger set, itmight require a few tries to get the hang of tokenplacement.
In terms of strategy and logic, I am still a big fan ofSokoban, the Japanese “warehousekeeper” game. You will find this one among your KDE games. Theobject is to move large gems into their proper storage in anincreasingly crowded warehouse. Sokoban takes patience, but doeswonders for the analytical process.
Eventually, you will want to try something not included withyour Linux distribution. While the excitement of Linux hasn't yetgenerated the vast amount of educational titles stocking theshelves for that other operating system, the selection is growingand will continue to do so. If you want to track what is happeningin the world of children's games specifically, try theLinux for Kids web site. For thebigger kids, keep an eye on theLinux GameTome andLinuxberg toname just a couple. Move your desks a little closer together, andsample what I found in my initial search.
To not only challenge, but twist and turn a young mind, IrecommendGroundhog. This is awonderful little puzzle where you manipulate tubes (or groundhogtunnels, I presume) to move little colored balls into theircorresponding little colored pockets. So far, I have managed thetwo-ball by two-ball level, but I think I will graduatesoon.
Codebreaker is a GPL'edversion of Mastermind, an old favorite of mine. This “guess thecolor code” game is still a great exercise in logic. For those whoconsider themselves experts at the game, I suggest trying it witheight different colors.
There are times when I really don't need to learn much. Ijust want to save the world from an evil empire, say a largemultinational software empire bent on world domination. EnterXTux, a great little game thatteaches some interesting lessons. For starters, CD-ROMs make greatweapons with which to destroy mindless droids, and coffee is allyou really need to keep you going. Several characters are providedto help you get the job done: Tux, Gown, BSD Daemon, Emacs and Vi.What can I tell you? It's silly, but fun.
Probably the most fun I had while putting this together was alittle something called theStickerBook. The concept is so simple, it's brilliant. Like thesticker books you had as a kid, this one comes with a variety ofimages and a handful of different backgrounds. You pick up thestickers by clicking on the various images, then simply paste themonto your background with another click. You can also increase thesize of images, shrink them and rotate them. If you don't like theway it is turning out, you can erase everything and start over. Inthe process of writing this article, I had a couple of adultswatching over my shoulder, and they were captivated. The onlydownside (and I hope the developers read this) is that the tabswhich let you flip between series of stickers are a bit small forthe large arrow pointer they supply. If it wasn't for the adultresponse, I would've said this was a game for the very young. Trythis one. It's deceptively addictive.
Another selection for the very young isLinux Letters and Numbers.Essentially, this is a board with large tiles representing thenumbers 0 through 9 and the letters of the alphabet. Clicking on atile brings up a picture of something starting with that letter, ora collection of little pictures representing the number (4 apples,for instance). Letters and Numbers comes with a collection oftiles, but you can create your own when the kids start anticipatingthe image that follows the letter. “P” is for Penguin!
For a slightly older audience, trylolit Math Literature. This is amath training program that helps teach addition, subtraction,multiplication and division. The interface is fairly slick-lookingand the questions go from very simple to fairly complex. Just whatis 87+54, anyway?
Well, mes amis, it is once again closing time. I sincerelyhope I have whetted your appetite for turning over your Linuxsystem to the kids (at least every once in a while). Do come backsoon. You are always welcome here atChezMarcel.
Bon Appétit!
