The fact that there is a wall between the Linux stuff and Windows stuff (“You can't edit a file that originates from the Linux userland inside Windows.”) sounds very hacky to me.
It's not a VM, it's like the inverse of WINE... it's a compatibility layer... and that one piece (not being able to edit files in the LSW from windows/gui) is what keeps me off of it.
I do.. and samba to use a GUI editor against files in the VM. That said, there's the overhead of a full VM... some of the same reasons one would use WINE instead of a full Windows VM.
There's a lot of that here. It's one of the richest places on the planet but we can't afford to build homeless shelters or significant public transit projects.
Not OP but just in the spirit of contribution, here is one of my favorite long-distance cycling journals by a (very thrifty) science & engineering geek.
Bicycle travel is great. You go slow enough to see everything and meet people you wouldn't through motorized travel, but you go fast enough to cover long distances over a period of weeks or months.
Ugh. Socioeconomic conditions, not race, drive people to commit violent crime (for the vast majority of cases). Critical thinking may be hard, but it's rewarding. Try it.
At this point it's almost a literacy thing. Basic knowledge and breaking that fear of computers would be enough. At that point people can decide if they're genuinely interested based on knowledge instead of (probably) irrational fear. For some people it really is a matter of just breaking that initial intimidation factor. There's more than enough time wasted in K-12 to not put at least an intro class in there for a year...
I remember getting scolded in my 7th grade (required) home education class because I had the pan's handle in a dangerous position while cooking eggs. The pillow I made was the shit though and I did learn how to make muffins so it wasn't a complete loss. But you've got to agree an Intro to Python/Java class would be a much better use of time.
And then there was that one time I broke my arm playing flag football in one of my countless years of "physical education". Teach kids diet and exercise for that "subject" to be remotely beneficial in my opinion, with an emphasis on the diet. That's lifelong knowledge. I don't play flag football anymore, also still don't have full range of motion in my left arm (it's nothing bad al all, just kind of annoying on occasion).
Or those two years I spent in French. I remember my French name was Pascal. I can tell you my name and count to three but unfortunately can't remember how to tell you bye, or anything else. Everyone should at least be introduced to code like they are to algebra. I was introduced to woodworking, close to a decade of random ass activities in phys. ed., clay classes, jewelry classes, and more I can't even remember.
A semester or better yet full year is more relevant in today's society. And frankly, is a skill that will have a subjectively higher quality of life than whatever else they were considering. Breaking the initial intimidation faction, like I said, could be all it takes. Stupid to not do that when so many other almost-mind-boggling stupid things are required.
I know my 6th/7th grade cousins were amazed this year when I told them I was making an Android app. I told them they could too and there are plenty of sites to start, told them a few, but I know they didn't believe me. I think kids around that age would love making a simple HTML5 game or something. Accomplishing that at a young age would change how they think about tech for the rest of their lives. I know my cousins will never get exposure to that outside of school because their blue collar father (not saying anything bad, my dad is blue collar as well) has them playing sports year round - football, basketball, baseball, and soccer. Now that's awesome, but over the top. Those aren't lifelong skills the same way coding can be. I hate to even limit it to 'coding', it's knowledge that can help apply logic to all areas of life while potentially creating plenty of opportunities.
> I had the pan's handle in a dangerous position while cooking eggs. ... But you've got to agree an Intro to Python/Java class would be a much better use of time.
Even as a programmer, you still eat 3 times a day, right? There you get your utility. I think cooking and personal finance classes should be much more prominent. The think that was useless for me was Chemistry. The subject I got the most out of - English (I am not a native speaker).
Pah, chemistry is just useless because you can't make fireworks any more without risk ending up on a no-fly list or worse ;-)
On a more serious note, I'd not remove anything from parent's list of classes -- I'd even defend the breaking of his arm (in the sense that, I'd rather have some kids break arms, than playtime/phys.ed. being too cuddled).
It's really sad that he didn't feel he got anything from learning French. I suppose that's the price one pays for having "won" the language lottery (it was a little like that with German 70 or so years ago, I'd imagine). Perhaps French should be dropped from American schools and be replaced by a language that actually is more of a gateway into an alternative culture and history, like Arabic or something...
It's not so much as I'm asking people to become a professional programmer more than a psychology teacher is telling her students to become psychologists or math teachers telling his students to become mathematicians.
Student's should at least be aware of it. Understand it's not MAGIC and doesn't require you to have little friends and knowledge of hacking traffic lights in order to build a useful tool for yourself or others.
