4 ms·

The answer is right there at the top of the article: that it's for the classroom.

amelius 9y ago
Yes, so what will the target-audience learn over the virtual experience? Other than that they can't run this at home because of the cost?
- Sir_Cmpwn 9y ago
  Their home computers probably don't run Linux, for one. They also don't have to worry about syncronization over the network, and they don't have much opportunity to learn about hardware and maker skills. I think you initially misunderstood this to be a consumer-oriented project instead of a classroom-oriented project, but doubled down when you were corrected.
  - zeveb 9y ago
    > Their home computers probably don't run Linux, for one. Glib reply: why not? Serious reply: VirtualBox is available for Windows, macOS & Linux alike, and is free. Surely that's acceptable?
    - Sir_Cmpwn 9y ago
      Glib response: because Windows is the dominant OS and my statement is statistically likely Serious response: I'm of the opinion that you don't learn much about Linux by using it in VirtualBox.
      - zeveb 9y ago
        I meant running multiple VMs in VirtualBox to simulate a distributed system as an alternative to buying multiple Raspberry Pis, not running Linux in VirtualBox. The really cool thing, though, about multiple Raspberry Pis is that the systems really are running in parallel, rather than faking it with multitasking. That's definitely worth something in an educational context.
        Sir_Cmpwn 9y ago
        Ah, I see what you mean. That makes more sense. Still, I think there's value in having this cool looking machine to fiddle with over the computer they're used to messing with all the time. I think it likely to engage more.
        amelius 9y ago
        > I think it likely to engage more. As opposed to running it by yourself on your own computer in a bunch of virtual machines?
        Sir_Cmpwn 9y ago
        Absolutely. Do you see no value in the maker skills involved in building the rig?
        Const-me 9y ago
        This. Technically, a single PC with multi-process program is often enough. I've used this approach when I worked on some cloud game server, worked good, I just needed to make sure service discovery was OK finding multiple server instances on same IP but different ports.
        amelius 9y ago
        > The really cool thing, though, about multiple Raspberry Pis is that the systems really are running in parallel, rather than faking it with multitasking. Imho, multitasking is a much cooler feat than parallelism by mere duplication of the CPU. It requires much more engineering effort, e.g. in areas of memory coherence and such. Also, a modern desktop CPU will be an order of magnitude faster than the RPi, so you'll need a lot of them to match performance.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- andrewguenther 9y ago
  Imagine trying to explain to a kid that this one computer is actually a bunch of computers and why that is cool vs. having a bunch of flashing lights visually showing the work being done in a way that they have never experienced before. Which do you think would be more engaging? > Other than that they can't run this at home because of the cost? Do you really think that, as an example, a middle school student is going to be able to go home and install virtual box on their home computer? If they even have one?
  - dvtv75 9y ago
    "Imagine trying to explain to a kid that this one computer is actually a bunch of computers and why that is cool vs. having a bunch of flashing lights visually showing the work being done in a way that they have never experienced before." As a kid, I would do something in a virtual environment (although at that time, that meant "programming the ZX Spectrum") and the others would say "does not!" or "prove it" and then any evidence they couldn't touch was not real, it was just something I made the computer do. On completion of my CS degree, some former friends of mine would read something at an appropriately undergrad level that they thought was interesting and tell me about it. When asked "Can you not do that?" the response would typically be "No. And neither can you." There's something quite satisfying about building something that you can throw at the head of another person.

Yes, so what will the target-audience learn over the virtual experience? Other than that they can't run this at home because of the cost?

Sir_Cmpwn 9y ago
Their home computers probably don't run Linux, for one. They also don't have to worry about syncronization over the network, and they don't have much opportunity to learn about hardware and maker skills. I think you initially misunderstood this to be a consumer-oriented project instead of a classroom-oriented project, but doubled down when you were corrected.
- zeveb 9y ago
  > Their home computers probably don't run Linux, for one. Glib reply: why not? Serious reply: VirtualBox is available for Windows, macOS & Linux alike, and is free. Surely that's acceptable?
  - Sir_Cmpwn 9y ago
    Glib response: because Windows is the dominant OS and my statement is statistically likely Serious response: I'm of the opinion that you don't learn much about Linux by using it in VirtualBox.
    - zeveb 9y ago
      I meant running multiple VMs in VirtualBox to simulate a distributed system as an alternative to buying multiple Raspberry Pis, not running Linux in VirtualBox. The really cool thing, though, about multiple Raspberry Pis is that the systems really are running in parallel, rather than faking it with multitasking. That's definitely worth something in an educational context.
      - Sir_Cmpwn 9y ago
        Ah, I see what you mean. That makes more sense. Still, I think there's value in having this cool looking machine to fiddle with over the computer they're used to messing with all the time. I think it likely to engage more.
        amelius 9y ago
        > I think it likely to engage more. As opposed to running it by yourself on your own computer in a bunch of virtual machines?
        Sir_Cmpwn 9y ago
        Absolutely. Do you see no value in the maker skills involved in building the rig?
        Const-me 9y ago
        This. Technically, a single PC with multi-process program is often enough. I've used this approach when I worked on some cloud game server, worked good, I just needed to make sure service discovery was OK finding multiple server instances on same IP but different ports.
      - amelius 9y ago
        > The really cool thing, though, about multiple Raspberry Pis is that the systems really are running in parallel, rather than faking it with multitasking. Imho, multitasking is a much cooler feat than parallelism by mere duplication of the CPU. It requires much more engineering effort, e.g. in areas of memory coherence and such. Also, a modern desktop CPU will be an order of magnitude faster than the RPi, so you'll need a lot of them to match performance.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
andrewguenther 9y ago
Imagine trying to explain to a kid that this one computer is actually a bunch of computers and why that is cool vs. having a bunch of flashing lights visually showing the work being done in a way that they have never experienced before. Which do you think would be more engaging? > Other than that they can't run this at home because of the cost? Do you really think that, as an example, a middle school student is going to be able to go home and install virtual box on their home computer? If they even have one?
- dvtv75 9y ago
  "Imagine trying to explain to a kid that this one computer is actually a bunch of computers and why that is cool vs. having a bunch of flashing lights visually showing the work being done in a way that they have never experienced before." As a kid, I would do something in a virtual environment (although at that time, that meant "programming the ZX Spectrum") and the others would say "does not!" or "prove it" and then any evidence they couldn't touch was not real, it was just something I made the computer do. On completion of my CS degree, some former friends of mine would read something at an appropriately undergrad level that they thought was interesting and tell me about it. When asked "Can you not do that?" the response would typically be "No. And neither can you." There's something quite satisfying about building something that you can throw at the head of another person.