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[jduped]

hey,

I'm referred an old box for an 11 year old kids first computer...

how do I access to the growing vector linux repos? (gslapt defaults seem limited)

I added slacky.eu repo, I'm just wondering how I get access to more packages..mostly games and educational.

I'm trying to build something similar to Foresight for kids...without having to use foresight

http://www.foresightlinux.org/kids.html

any ideas?

I'm running VL 6.0 Light

[GrannyGeek]

It's not generally recommended to add non-VectorLinux repositories to /etc/slapt-get/slapt-getrc. Packages in VL repos have to meet certain standards and won't mess up the system as long as you don't use the testing repository (those packages are being tested and are probably okay, but until they're put in the regular repos you're taking your chances).

If you want to take your chances with a Slackware package from a non-VL repo like Slacky or linuxpackages.net, I think it's best to just find the package, download it, and install with installpkg nameofpackage.tgz as root.

You're really better off building a package from source. It's often not difficult. There are active topics in this forum right now about creating packages from source and there are some very nice video tutorials at www.opensourcebistro.com .
--GrannyGeek

[no2thesame]

I agree, Granny Geek...
Jduped, I had a look at Foresight and VL has most of the featured programs or equivalents.
Exeterdad has previously packaged Tuxpaint and GCompris (they are available for 5.9, 5.8.) so if you want them, put in request at the New Package Requests Board http://forum.vectorlinux.com/index.php?board=35.0 . Because they have been packaged before they will be fairly easy   to package again.

Actually, I don't think either of them are for 11 year-old kids. For graphics the Gimp is good and there are some excellent web tutorials if needed. Inkscape is great fun and has some downloadable interactive tutorials that will keep the kids happy for hours (at least they did me). GCompris is aimed at younger kids.

I raised four children to be "Linuxen" with nothing besides what was in the repo's. The youngest is now 14 and he really enjoyed Battle for Wesnoth (from the repo's) and the Wesnoth level-editor is a great introduction to programming (I've been told).  

By the time a child reaches 11, I think they are ready for the big toys that Linux and Vector have in abundance. Open-source software is probably the best educational environment on the planet (that you can access through your computer anyway).

OpenEducationDisc  http://www.theopendisc.com/education/ has a good list of FOSS Windows software. The ones that could be good on VL are Stellarium (but it needs Qt4 etc) and Celestia. You could request them for the new VL SOHO edition. While you wait, you could download the Marble Live CD from http://cornelius-schumacher.de/marbleinabox.html

[jduped]

Nice to see you Granny Geek, its been a while.

The issue is this is not for my kid, this is for a neighbors kid.  I got a chance to go through a few pallets of trashed computers.  Found 3 good ones, brought them home and started refurbishing and testing.  parts went to current systems as upgrades and I'm currently left with a few boxes and extra parts.  So rather then selling them for a small pay off I figured I'd just give one of them to someone that could use it.

The family has very little cash, so this machine will not be online.  I'm just looking for something fun, stable, educational, and net ready.  I started with zenwalk on the box, it had video issues and there new version seems more resource hungry and laggy then prior versions.  So I remembered my experiences with Vector and seen a light version and thought that was the way to go.

I really like that open disc idea...all the fun of linux in the most problematic os ever conceived.

no2thesame, granny geek I'll see what I can put together.

Also from previous vector/zenwalk experience I know of the issues of using linux package/slacky repos I just remember reading that vector had upped the supported software to 9000+ packages suppose that doesn't account for versions.

Any suggestions for fun games, apps, for a kid 11+ no net required preference given to ones on the repos.

[no2thesame]

The issue is this is not for my kid, this is for a neighbors kid.  I got a chance to go through a few pallets of trashed computers.  Found 3 good ones, brought them home and started refurbishing and testing.  parts went to current systems as upgrades and I'm currently left with a few boxes and extra parts.  So rather then selling them for a small pay off I figured I'd just give one of them to someone that could use it.

The family has very little cash, so this machine will not be online.  I'm just looking for something fun, stable, educational, and net ready. 

Way to go, jduped!

I really like that open disc idea...all the fun of linux in the most problematic os ever conceived.

Yeah.. but most of the programs or equivalents, are available in Vector. It gives you some idea of what a teacher thinks kids would/should like.

Any suggestions for fun games, apps, for a kid 11+ no net required preference given to ones on the repos.

Games depend on your hardware. If the graphics are good, the  Extreme Tux racer is value. Others my kids like are Wesnoth and Frozen Bubble, but they didn't play too much. FreeCiv is pretty good too. As I said above, Gimp (especially with their own photos) and Inkscape are good. They'll need a word-processor for school work soon, Abiword isn't bad, OpenOffice if the machine can run it.

Just pack the hard drive and let them explore. Linux is good for that.