Contents
Issues
Name
What's your name?
- Debian Jr.
- debian-junior
- junior
As for the name, Debian Jr. is correct.
Ideas
WWW
What do you think about a own Browser?
Archiv
Old Page
Live CD development
At this point the prereleases of the Debian Jr. live CD are strictly for discussion purposes and are not yet intended for end users. That being said, images are available which you can try out if you want to help us make them better. But we are not yet ready to give user support for them.
Test images are temporarily available here:
http://people.debian.org/~synrg/live-jr
If you would like to discuss the development of the Jr. live CD, please join #debian-jr on irc.debian.org or drop us a note at debian-jr@lists.debian.org (this is a public mailinglist).
A Debian Jr. live CD can also be built using live-helper with the following steps:
sudo apt-get install debootstrap live-helper git git clone git://git.debian.org/git/debian-live/config-junior.git cd config-junior/gnome-junior sudo lh_build
Currently the junior config in git is for an iso image and gnome desktop. You can change these parameters with lh_config before running lh_build, e.g.
lh_config -p kde-junior && sudo lh_build
lh_config -p xfce-junior -b usb-hdd && sudo lh_build
For more help with live-helper configuration, see ?DebianLive/Configuration or join #debian-live on irc.debian.org.
Desktop customization tips
A default Debian desktop is already fairly usable by children of most ages with minimal configuration changes. Of course, like older users, children will want things arranged for their maximum convenience and to suit their tastes. So we encourage you to spend some time with each child user you look after adjusting their account settings and, where possible, helping them to adjust them on their own.
Typical things you might want to change are:
- Choose a desktop theme and background they like.
Use your child's own artwork, favourite game & movie screenshots, etc. as background images.
- Add buttons to the panels to launch favourite programs, customizing the icon as needed (as some programs don't yet have icons).
- Add extra panels, drawers, etc. as the default panel gets too full. It is handy, especially for younger children who haven't learned to read yet or to handle the mouse very well, to have everything they can run out in plain view as a panel button, rather than buried in a menu.
- Increase the panel size to make it easier to see and press the buttons.
But for the very youngest children, something a bit different from the standard desktop can be set up, if you prefer.
On the Debian Jr. mailing list some months ago, we discussed how to create a simple Desktop Environment for very young children.
Probably the simplest way to do this is to have your X system launch straight into a gcompris session, by putting a single command in the child's ~/.xinitrc, "gcompris".
Or with a bit more effort, use this more thorough approach: configure a DebianJr/SpecialSession for that small user.
- Gcompris has a number of command line options and configurations to make it use the full screen quite well for this scenario (such as: gcompris --disable-quit --disable-config to run in 'kiosk' mode).
Information about packages
junior-programming
Other related projects
OpenRating aims to "implement a classification of the stuff that some parents and educators won't consider appropriate for their children (violence, sex, sexism, drugs, religious matters, ...). The idea is not to provide a moral classification of what is good or bad, but to inform the parents and teachers about it, and let them decide."