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Ping4kids - Linux for kids, parents and others


chris:b
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Hi all,

 

the mklivecd project still has some problems to solve with MDK 10.1, kernel stuff and bootcodes and udev ;-)

I am not a coder and have to wait patiently for solutions.

 

One of my favourite poster on a Linux Board is Counterspy from linuxiso.org. Recently he was involved in a discussion about Linux for kids and the idea about a LiveCD for kids.

 

So, I made such a LiveCD, based on Mandrake 10.1 with kernel 2.6.8.1-20mdk (recompiled by Texstar), kde 3.3.1.

It's meant for the real kids, 4-12 years old. And their parents. And interested folks.

 

For kids:

TuxPaint

TuxType

Frozen Bubble

Kolourpaint

Potato Guy

KGeography

KStars

Gcompris (wow!!)

all Kde Games

Kde Education (a lot)

Kde Toys

 

For the parents:

The usual internet stuff and Linux tools

Xine/Kaffeine with all codecs, all streaming media are working

Kasablanca (ftp client)

KMymoney

KBudget

...

 

English only. Default keyboard: US. Different keyboards can be set in the systray while running the cd.

 

Requirements:

At least 128 MB RAM, better more.

Parents who have fun spending time with their kids.

 

I am aware that this LiveCD is not for the big public. I had much fun preparing it. And if a handful kids and parents would share my fun, I would be happy.

And if you find it useful, then please spread the word. I am not good in 'marketing' and making noise.

A mirror for the iso would also help. I am limited to 300 MB on berlios.de, and that's actually our developer ftp for the Dutch mcnl project.

 

___________

Oh, and for the geeks:

You most probably will find some bugs or hardware problems. Please report ;-)

 

Download (~ 280 MB, rainbow4kids_v1.iso)

ftp://ftp.berlios.de/pub/rainbow

 

post-1432-1101939971_thumb.jpg

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Is there some sort of filtering software in that distro so that kids cant visit adult/violent websites? Or some sort of mechanism where the parent can state (as root) that he/she will only allow the kid to visit THESE particular sites.

 

That facility would really get a heck of a lot of people interested, especially in this era of porn pop-ups appearing on Windoze machines that young kids use nowadays.

 

happened to a neighbour of mine - his 8 year old kid had over 200 spyware things running around his system, with lots of porn hijacking and pop ups - i wiped it and installed Mandrake instead.

 

And no - the porn wasnt the pop-star soft porn that any 8 year old might be curious about - it was WAAAY more serious thanks to the kids usage of IE on an unprotected Windoze system.

 

So, some sort of rock solid "walled garden" thing would be great -i'd then feel ok about giving out the CD to parents who want to let their 5 year old say "explore the internet".

 

Right now ,parents cant even dream of doing that.

Edited by kde-head
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Oh -forgot to mention - TuxPaint rocks!!!

 

kids love it - dead easy for younger kids to pick up mouse skills from it. Well, thats what i observed when i showed it to a visiting 5 year old cousin of mine and his 7 year old brother and let them have a go at it.

 

of course the exposure to this "KDE" desktop weirdness provoked a lot of questions, but thats another story...

 

AAAH - they'll be bash shell hackers by the age of ten if i have my way... :thumbs:

Edited by kde-head
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No, there is not any filter.

It's meant for kids withtheir parents. Not leaving the kids alone.

 

the filter bit is what you need to add.

it will gain a lot of traction and a lot of notice then.

 

Unplug the cable. Disconnect. Done.

 

And then park your children in front of the screen. That's what you are looking for?

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  • 1 month later...

Looks really great!

 

Just one remark: why is there a "Launch command" button in the taskbar? Do you think kids will really need it?? To me this looks like not so good an idea...

 

For web filtering, maybe have a look at DansGuardian:

http://dansguardian.org/?page=whatisdg

 

License stuff (taken from http://dansguardian.org/?page=copyright2 ):

DansGuardian 2 - the summary

 

DansGuardian 2 is:

 

    * free for non-commercial use

    * not free for installation by 3rd parties charging for installation or support

    * not free for commercial use

    * licensed under the GPL

    * copyright Daniel Barron

    * is a registered trade mark of Daniel Barron

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Thanks for the kind words :-)

 

Helaas, the ping4kids can't be developed further at the moment. My harddisk is full ;-)

 

Also, I just finished a new LiveCD version, based on MDK 10.1 but with some 10.2 beta stuff included: kernel 2.6.10, new alsa, new udev, new ldetect, usb mouse and keyboard fixes.

 

So, the kids iso will be replaced in the next hours by the new rainbow.iso.

 

--chris

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Hi Anna,

 

Great project idea. This sounds just like the sort of thing I've been looking for, and was thinking about how would I go about creating it if I couldn't find one. To be honest, I didn't expect I would be able to :cheesy: and so am glad someone with more nouse has done it.

 

It sounds quite impressive. I'll post a reply after downloading and running it.

 

:thanks:

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Hi 4ebees,

 

the ping4kids has been removed. But you'll find the new LiveCD on

ftp://ftp.berlios.de/pub/rainbow

 

Creating your own livecd is not that hard, Step-by-Step on my website:

http://home.tiscali.nl/berenstraat/

 

And I've setup and redone the website for the mklivecd project:

http://livecd.berlios.de/

 

 

--chris

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