• Pi for kids?

    From The Godfather@1337:3/111 to All on Tue May 26 19:53:46 2020
    Hey all,

    I bought two Pi4's that just showed up in the mail. I bought the most fully featured I could get for both. One is a combo kit for my kids ... I noticed they have a minecraft mods things (I know nothing about it, but my 12 year
    old does) ... he's begging me to unbox it to get startd. however .. I have
    no clue where to begin ... what OS would you recommend best for kids? And seperately, I have no clue what I'll do with mine. But as someone who runs a BBs, I imagine once I'm comfortable with Linux, I'll a) be switching the BBS over to it, b) putting up a website for the BBs and using the PI as a server, c) I really want to play around with these Pi's, so ... the SLR camera is looking fun; but also I've heard of people using them inline with their
    routers (not sure why....) so second question would be, which version of OS would you recommen I install?

    Lastly, and cool links on "things to do with the PI" would be awesome.
    They're so cheap, I can imagine owning too many if I continue to have too
    much time on my hands. The internet radio conversation sounded intersting, have the page pulled up to review as well. Pretty excited!

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Castle Rock BBS - bbs.castlerockbbs.com - (1337:3/111)
  • From alterego@1337:2/101 to The Godfather on Wed May 27 13:22:42 2020
    Re: Pi for kids?
    By: The Godfather to All on Tue May 26 2020 07:53 pm

    .. I have no clue where to begin ... what OS would you recommend best for kids? And seperately, I have no clue what I'll do with mine. But as someone who runs a BBs, I imagine once I'm comfortable with Linux, I'll a) be switching the BBS over to it, b) putting up a website for the BBs and using the PI as a server, c) I really want to play around with these Pi's,

    So I run my "Hub" on a Pi3+ - and I run everything on it in docker. (I'm a docker fan...)

    The OS for me is stock Rasbian - so I know it works, although my Rasbian is now
    "old" I think, (based on stretch), as I think the current Rasbian is based on buster.

    In the "OS" side of things, it is all standard - because everything I tweak or play with is in a docker container - that can be anything you want. (The hub is
    a buster container, and my SBBS that I'm about to move back is a stretch container.)

    I digress - what to use for your kids - I would go defaults (ie: Raspbian) - lots of (project) documentation around assume it is in place on Pis.

    I just built a RetroPi for my son - with a few roms - he loves it (he's 8). I saw the mindcraft server stuff, so that might be the next project - but he wont
    get minecraft until his birthday in a few months.

    ...ëîåï

    ... Chuck Norris can sleep while he's awake.
    --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
    * Origin: I'm playing with ANSI+videotex - wanna play too? (1337:2/101)
  • From MeaTLoTioN@1337:1/101 to The Godfather on Wed May 27 09:10:01 2020
    On 26 May 2020, The Godfather said the following...

    Hey all,

    I bought two Pi4's that just showed up in the mail. I bought the most fully featured I could get for both. One is a combo kit for my kids ...
    I noticed they have a minecraft mods things (I know nothing about it,
    but my 12 year old does) ... he's begging me to unbox it to get startd. however .. I have no clue where to begin ... what OS would you
    recommend best for kids? And seperately, I have no clue what I'll do
    with mine. But as someone who runs a BBs, I imagine once I'm
    comfortable with Linux, I'll a) be switching the BBS over to it, b) putting up a website for the BBs and using the PI as a server, c) I
    really want to play around with these Pi's, so ... the SLR camera is looking fun; but also I've heard of people using them inline with their routers (not sure why....) so second question would be, which version of OS would you recommen I install?

    Hey dude, well I think Deon already has had some input into this question,
    he's the resident Pi guru =)... I would say that you would probably be best sticking to the OS that was made for it for now, Raspbian, which is a version of debian for Raspberry Pi and ARM. I think as stock it's pretty neat.

    For the kid, I would definitely go RetroPi as you can put all the old rom
    games on it and have an arcade machine. There are a few good videos on
    youtubes showing you all about RetroPi, I'd recommend watching a few.

    Another cool project you might consider, is installing "pi-hole" which is a network Advertising blocker. You would configure it as your network's DHCP server and let that issue IP addresses out instead of your router, but stock config once set as DHCP will block pretty much any and all banner ads and
    video ads on anything that would use them. I use pi-hole in a VM (as it can
    be installed on anything), and I love it. I even patreon them as I believe in it so much.

    Lastly, and cool links on "things to do with the PI" would be awesome. They're so cheap, I can imagine owning too many if I continue to have too much time on my hands. The internet radio conversation sounded intersting, have the page pulled up to review as well. Pretty excited!

    Yeah I think that is the case with many people lol, once you get one or two, they just start multiplying haha!

    ---
    |14Best regards,
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    |07ÄÄ |08[|10ark|08] |1510:104/2 |07ÄÙ

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A43 2019/03/02 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: The Quantum Wormhole, Ramsgate, UK. bbs.erb.pw (1337:1/101)
  • From The Godfather@1337:3/132 to MeaTLoTioN on Tue Aug 25 11:19:53 2020
    Hey dude, well I think Deon already has had some input into this
    question, he's the resident Pi guru =)... I would say that you would probably be best sticking to the OS that was made for it for now, Raspbian, which is a version of debian for Raspberry Pi and ARM. I think as stock it's pretty neat.

    Ok, between you and Deon, done -- sticking with Raspbian for now. I
    think my new Pi4 8gb has a newer operating system, but we'll see once I
    have time to get it up and running.

    For the kid, I would definitely go RetroPi as you can put all the old rom games on it and have an arcade machine. There are a few good videos on youtubes showing you all about RetroPi, I'd recommend watching a few.

    Hmm .. my kids and I would fight over the retro game time. Both great suggestions. I'll watch some videos. I'm assuming I can do the basic
    Raspbian install and then install the retropi over or within? I'm new
    to Linux but from what Deon had wrote, sounds like I can create
    containers within an existing environment.

    Another cool project you might consider, is installing "pi-hole" which
    is a network Advertising blocker. You would configure it as your
    network's DHCP server and let that issue IP addresses out instead of
    your router, but stock config once set as DHCP will block pretty much
    any and all banner ads and video ads on anything that would use them. I use pi-hole in a VM (as it can be installed on anything), and I love it.
    I even patreon them as I believe in it so much.


    I read up on this and it's on my checklist for sure. I've been
    hesitant as I don't want it blocking ports for my BBS, due to my lack
    of experience with Linux. But I love the idea of no add banners,
    etc... I'm also wanting to host my designed webpage from one, but thats
    an entire other project to learn on it's own. Too much learning to do,
    and not enough time (shrug).

    -tG

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: The Underground [@] www.theunderground.us:10023 (1337:3/132)
  • From MeaTLoTioN@1337:1/101 to The Godfather on Tue Aug 25 16:43:43 2020
    Another cool project you might consider, is installing "pi-hole" whic is a network Advertising blocker. You would configure it as your network's DHCP server and let that issue IP addresses out instead of your router, but stock config once set as DHCP will block pretty much any and all banner ads and video ads on anything that would use them. use pi-hole in a VM (as it can be installed on anything), and I love I even patreon them as I believe in it so much.


    I read up on this and it's on my checklist for sure. I've been
    hesitant as I don't want it blocking ports for my BBS, due to my lack
    of experience with Linux. But I love the idea of no add banners,
    etc... I'm also wanting to host my designed webpage from one, but thats
    an entire other project to learn on it's own. Too much learning to do, and not enough time (shrug).

    It doesn't block in that way, it's purely DNS blocking and outbound only, for example;

    When you do a google search for something like "anti virus", usually
    the first few items come up are sponsored ads, and as such you'd want to block those, so pi-hole becomes your in-network DNS server, so instead of your computers using google's DNS to resolve hostnames to IP addresses etc, your pi-hole does that instead.

    It will effectively blackhole the domains that it has in it's updatable database so when your browser wants you to see an ad, instead of it getting it, it will just get nothing.

    No ports will be blocked inbound.
    hope this helps explain it better.

    ---
    |14Best regards,
    |11Ch|03rist|11ia|15n |11a|03ka |11Me|03aTLoT|11io|15N

    |07ÄÄ |08[|10eml|08] |15ml@erb.pw |07ÄÄ |08[|10web|08] |15www.erb.pw |07ÄÄÄ¿ |07ÄÄ |08[|09fsx|08] |1521:1/158 |07ÄÄ |08[|11tqw|08] |151337:1/101 |07ÂÄÄÙ |07ÄÄ |08[|12rtn|08] |1580:774/81 |07ÄÂ |08[|14fdn|08] |152:250/5 |07ÄÄÄÙ
    |07ÄÄ |08[|10ark|08] |1510:104/2 |07ÄÙ

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A43 2019/03/02 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: thE qUAntUm wOrmhOlE, rAmsgAtE, uK. bbs.erb.pw (1337:1/101)
  • From The Godfather@1337:3/132 to MeaTLoTioN on Tue Aug 25 17:02:39 2020
    When you do a google search for something like "anti virus", usually
    the first few items come up are sponsored ads, and as such you'd want to block those, so pi-hole becomes your in-network DNS server, so instead
    of your computers using google's DNS to resolve hostnames to IP
    addresses etc, your pi-hole does that instead.

    It will effectively blackhole the domains that it has in it's updatable database so when your browser wants you to see an ad, instead of it getting it, it will just get nothing.

    No ports will be blocked inbound.
    hope this helps explain it better.


    Perfectly. Looking to learn so appreciate it.

    -tG

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: The Underground [@] www.theunderground.us:10023 (1337:3/132)
  • From alterego@1337:2/101 to The Godfather on Wed Aug 26 07:54:40 2020
    Re: Re: Pi for kids?
    By: The Godfather to MeaTLoTioN on Tue Aug 25 2020 11:19 am

    Howdy,

    Ok, between you and Deon, done -- sticking with Raspbian for now. I
    think my new Pi4 8gb has a newer operating system, but we'll see once I have time to get it up and running.

    I think its the same OS - but I know Rasberry Pi org are building (finally) a 64 bit version. IIRC its still only beta - so not sure what you installed.

    As Christian said, I would stick with Debian - while there are others wanting to get their port of Linux onto Pi devices, you'll find a heap more help with Debian (err Raspbian), since it was the first...

    Hmm .. my kids and I would fight over the retro game time. Both great suggestions. I'll watch some videos. I'm assuming I can do the basic Raspbian install and then install the retropi over or within? I'm new
    to Linux but from what Deon had wrote, sounds like I can create
    containers within an existing environment.

    RetroPi is basically Raspbian with preconfigured emulators and default shell. What you could probably do is have 2 SD cards - RetroPi on 1 when you play, and
    Raspbian when you dont. Although RetroPi is raspbian under the covers, there should be no problem "adding" to it, and using it as a server.

    I have a RetroPi, which is dedicated for my son, but that may change (its only a 3B though...)

    I read up on this and it's on my checklist for sure. I've been
    hesitant as I don't want it blocking ports for my BBS, due to my lack
    of experience with Linux. But I love the idea of no add banners,
    etc... I'm also wanting to host my designed webpage from one, but thats
    an entire other project to learn on it's own. Too much learning to do, and not enough time (shrug).

    I use pi-hole, but interestingly not on a Pi! (even though I have another one that I dont use - but it looks like its going to become a minecraft server - again my son has his eyes on it).

    Pi-hole is not a fireall - it doenst block ports. Its a DNS proxy, and knows the dns names for advertising/tracking services - so when a device on your network requests my.tracking.facebook.com (as an example) - it resolves that to
    itself, so your browser gets a blank 200 instead of the real servers javascript it. Ergo, it shouldnt affect your BBS in anyway (unless its tracking
    you...? :)

    ...ëîåï

    ... Academic rivalries are so intense because the stakes are so small.
    --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
    * Origin: I'm playing with ANSI+videotex - wanna play too? (1337:2/101)
  • From The Godfather@1337:3/132 to alterego on Wed Aug 26 15:20:31 2020
    shell. What you could probably do is have 2 SD cards - RetroPi on 1 when you play, and Raspbian when you dont. Although RetroPi is raspbian under the covers, there should be no problem "adding" to it, and using it as a server.


    This sounds super cool, any link to the download by chance? I don't
    want to download from some nefarious site. My kids (and I) would dig
    it. I have a 3, 8, and 12 year old. Mostly my 12 year old is into the Minecraft Mods; my 8 year old likes Scratch at the moment. The
    minecraft module that comes with Raspbian is a very basic world which
    was a big bummer to the 12 year old (as he simply wanted an excuse for
    more game time in the day ..) However, he's now learning how to do the
    basic coding to build his world and is having a blast with it on
    weekends.

    -tG

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: The Underground [@] www.theunderground.us:10023 (1337:3/132)
  • From alterego@1337:2/101 to The Godfather on Thu Aug 27 05:43:00 2020
    Re: Re: Pi for kids?
    By: The Godfather to alterego on Wed Aug 26 2020 03:20 pm

    Howdy,

    This sounds super cool, any link to the download by chance? I don't

    RetroPi is here https://retropie.org.uk/

    want to download from some nefarious site. My kids (and I) would dig
    it. I have a 3, 8, and 12 year old. Mostly my 12 year old is into the Minecraft Mods; my 8 year old likes Scratch at the moment. The
    minecraft module that comes with Raspbian is a very basic world which
    was a big bummer to the 12 year old (as he simply wanted an excuse for more game time in the day ..) However, he's now learning how to do the basic coding to build his world and is having a blast with it on
    weekends.

    Yeah my 9 yo has just had access to minecraft for the first time and is loving the minecraft that comes with Rasbian. He's been building stuff and talks about
    the game and I have no idea.

    I have discovered other minecraft builds (papermc) - which I'm going to look into as a replacement for the 0.1.1 that comes on the pi. It looks like a heap more capability, and I'll run it as a server so that we can both have a look at
    it - and perhaps his friends too...

    And if the server thing works well - I'll expose it out to the net - if you want your kids to check it out as well. I really dont know what minecraft is all about, but my son is all over it.

    ...ëîåï

    ... RADICAL: A conservative out of a job.
    --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
    * Origin: I'm playing with ANSI+videotex - wanna play too? (1337:2/101)
  • From The Godfather@1337:3/132 to alterego on Thu Aug 27 16:50:21 2020
    I have discovered other minecraft builds (papermc) - which I'm going to look into as a replacement for the 0.1.1 that comes on the pi. It looks like a heap more capability, and I'll run it as a server so that we can both have a look at it - and perhaps his friends too...
    And if the server thing works well - I'll expose it out to the net - if you want your kids to check it out as well. I really dont know what minecraft is all about, but my son is all over it.

    ...ëîåï

    They would love that! Let me know how and when to connect and I'll
    have them log on the first weekend their gaming is availble. I
    restrict them to no games other then weekends :) Although I haven't
    been feeling well, so took a nap, woke up to them sneaking gaming time
    in (rolling eyes,) now their doing chores.

    -tG

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: The Underground [@] www.theunderground.us:10023 (1337:3/132)
  • From paulie420@1337:3/129 to The Godfather on Thu Aug 27 21:25:04 2020
    I have discovered other minecraft builds (papermc) - which I'm going look into as a replacement for the 0.1.1 that comes on the pi. It loo like a heap more capability, and I'll run it as a server so that we c both have a look at it - and perhaps his friends too...
    And if the server thing works well - I'll expose it out to the net - you want your kids to check it out as well. I really dont know what minecraft is all about, but my son is all over it.
    ...ëîåï

    They would love that! Let me know how and when to connect and I'll
    have them log on the first weekend their gaming is availble. I
    restrict them to no games other then weekends :) Although I haven't
    been feeling well, so took a nap, woke up to them sneaking gaming time
    in (rolling eyes,) now their doing chores.
    -tG

    Great stuff, ya'll. I haven't heard of papermc, but my kids also are all over Minecraft. :P



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    |08.........

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