26 Feb
2013
26 Feb
'13
5:49 p.m.
On 2/26/13 2:09 PM, "Dave" <dave.g4ugm at gmail.com> wrote:
On 26/02/2013 20:24, Tony Duell wrote:
Its aimed at teaching "computer science" rather than "programming".
You only need "one" PC per school of PI's to create the SD card
installations. This comes with some development tools installed.
Each child can have their own SD card and so you don't need any network
to develop.
You can program on the PI rather than having to use a PC as with other
many embedded solutions.
Its cheap enough and low power enough so that you can stick it in in a
project and not worry about the cost.
Take a look the web site:-
http://www.raspberrypi.org/
and see what folks are doing.....
Dave
G4UGM
P.S. mine is still sat in front of the TV as a media server. However I
think I will get another to use as small file server.
As I've considered how I might use this in education, I'm considering
another factor: if someone steals it, it's not the end of the world. In
fact, it's not unreasonable to ask for a $50 tuition fee/deposit/whatever,
offering 'scholarships' to those who need them, and you won't bankrupt
your program if one or two kids/adults in ten decide to swipe the thing.
In fact, I'd consider that a reasonable cost of doing business, if my
'business' is educating people who can't afford even today's modest
prices
for netbooks or used laptops.
I've thought about this in the shadow of the BBC Micro, and I think the
big difference is that with the BBC Micro the educational program was
conceived and the hardware followed (at least as I understand it), while
with the RPi the hardware is put out there and it's up to educators to
develop the program(s). OK, fair enough, and the BBC project is a
powerful inspiration IMHO. That inspiration probably does need to be
updated to 2013, but I think we can manage that.
Regarding documentation: people who are complaining about that probably
don't appreciate how much documentation costs. The $35 device is now $100
or more. Besides, educators using this as a platform will create their
own documentation. If you're just a grumpy hobbyist who doesn't like the
fact it doesn't come with a catalog-sized manual, go buy something else.
This wasn't produced with you in mind.
I have Linux and Plan 9 running on mine. I particularly like playing with
Plan 9, and the distribution that's been created works great on the RPi -
I don't have to fight device compatibility when my goal is to play with
the OS. It's also really cool to completely change the device's
personality by plugging in another SD card. This is the perfect platform
to play with some ideas I have about OS design and implementation - I
don't have to bucket someone else's bilge.
I also agree with you, Dave, that it's a great little project card. I've
been wanting to do a little web-based media server for the living room
that doesn't take a bunch of room or power, and a RPi running Linux seems
perfect - once I'm done playing with it. But then I'll just buy another
one for play purposes. :-) -- Ian K7PDP
On
02/25/2013 04:45 PM, Tony Duell wrote:
:-)
As I have said several times, if you want to learn how a computer really
works, buy a non-working Unibus PDP11 (nto an 11/24, 11/84, 11/94, etc
,one of the TTL-baed ones), a PDP8/e or an HP9830 and learn to fix it.
By
the time it's working you will know just how a CPU executes
instructions.
If you are prepeared to use a microprocessor, then get a BBC micro. I've
yet to se a better educational machine. Seriously.
But I do wonder jhsut who the Rpi is aimed at. Given that you need a PC
and its peripherals (keyboard, mouse, monitor) to use the Rpi, I wonder
if it wouldn't be simpler jsut to install a free C compiler on said PC,
at least to learn programming.
-tony There are, IMHO, 3 thigns wrong with the Rpi. The
hardwre, the
software,
adn the docuemtnion.
I think my main problem with it is that I'm tainted by
nostalgia, and
what
I really wish it was is a backplane system with separate cards for ROM,
RAM, CPU, I/O, video etc. :-) Much more fun to mess around with, put
into
a cool-looking chassis, use to teach kids about how a computer works
etc.