One of the beautiful things about Slack is the fact that it can be manually updated for long periods of time without using formal releases; I know people still using a base system of 7.1 running 2.6, X.org, the latest GCC/Glibc, etc., with wonderful success.
Granted, it takes more manual work, but if you like the system to begin with it generally doesn't bug you.
IMHO, I think that kids who want to program will learn to program.
Often very true, but John_Booty also makes a good point.
I've had an interest in computers since I was nine or ten. I first began programming with Visual Basic when I was fourteen, but it didn't really appeal to me (I can make little toys with dialog boxes; yay).
When I was fifteen I ran across a link to ESR's "How to Become a Hacker". His comment to beginners to be wary of Visual Basic intrigued me, and from there I installed RedHat 5.2.
I'd like to say that I immediately developed into some programming prodigy, but in reality the foreign feel to linux made me quickly return to Windows, this time to study Python. However, that quickly lost it's appeal; when I made a new program I couldn't give it to my friends and say "Dude! Checkout what I'm working on!"
In response to rblancarte's statement, yes: I truly wanted to program, and that drive eventually took over and I began studying Linux. Now I'm eighteen, and (with no classroom experience, just a few books and online help) I now enjoy everything from assisting the ALSA people to networking security (securing UNIX systems and authorized;-) whitehat activities; no, it's not always programming related, but it's evidence that self-teaching works).
So yes, if the drive is there, we 'kids' can learn, overcoming the obstacles noted in the article. No, I don't believe linux should become a dropin replacement for Windows (heaven forbid). I'm merely noting that there are some people that would not be willing (or have the time) to push ahead and break past that initial barrier; I believe that is what the author is referring to.
(Although it is interesting: I've just begun attending a university, and quite honestly you can tell the university taught people from a mile away. Everything I talk to them about makes it apparent that they learned from a book. Their thought processes are often... limited. True, it's possible to build bad habits prior to 'formal' training, but I couldn't be more happy I took that risk.)
Slashdot Mirror
"Still, competition from the rail industry would likely be a good thing, opening more options up, and eventually lowering prices."
Likely further damaging our already floundering air system.
One of the beautiful things about Slack is the fact that it can be manually updated for long periods of time without using formal releases; I know people still using a base system of 7.1 running 2.6, X.org, the latest GCC/Glibc, etc., with wonderful success.
Granted, it takes more manual work, but if you like the system to begin with it generally doesn't bug you.
Often very true, but John_Booty also makes a good point.
I've had an interest in computers since I was nine or ten. I first began programming with Visual Basic when I was fourteen, but it didn't really appeal to me (I can make little toys with dialog boxes; yay).
When I was fifteen I ran across a link to ESR's "How to Become a Hacker". His comment to beginners to be wary of Visual Basic intrigued me, and from there I installed RedHat 5.2.
I'd like to say that I immediately developed into some programming prodigy, but in reality the foreign feel to linux made me quickly return to Windows, this time to study Python. However, that quickly lost it's appeal; when I made a new program I couldn't give it to my friends and say "Dude! Checkout what I'm working on!"
In response to rblancarte's statement, yes: I truly wanted to program, and that drive eventually took over and I began studying Linux. Now I'm eighteen, and (with no classroom experience, just a few books and online help) I now enjoy everything from assisting the ALSA people to networking security (securing UNIX systems and authorized
So yes, if the drive is there, we 'kids' can learn, overcoming the obstacles noted in the article. No, I don't believe linux should become a dropin replacement for Windows (heaven forbid). I'm merely noting that there are some people that would not be willing (or have the time) to push ahead and break past that initial barrier; I believe that is what the author is referring to.
(Although it is interesting: I've just begun attending a university, and quite honestly you can tell the university taught people from a mile away. Everything I talk to them about makes it apparent that they learned from a book. Their thought processes are often... limited. True, it's possible to build bad habits prior to 'formal' training, but I couldn't be more happy I took that risk.)