>I don't think we should give kids a terminal window and tell them to figure it out from there, but we should definitely be giving them computers that give them

>I don't think we should give kids a terminal window and tell them to figure it out from there, but we should definitely be giving them computers that give them the opportunity to peel back the layers, and then we should encourage them to do so. I agree with you on this one, but with one important caveat: it shouldn't be their primary driver/school work machine, it should be something provided by parents. I am all about letting kids figure stuff out and play around with the OS, but doing that on the machine that you use to submit homework, do your class scheduling, gradebook management, etc. is a recipe for disaster. Have you ever had cases where your machine became useless until you fixed it, because of some non-trivial symlinking or config screw up? Now imagine being a middle schooler who is already overstressed due to all the homework and other school stuff, but without enough technical and coping skills to deal with it. In a similar vein, if I had a kid, and they were interested in learning things about cars, I would be absolutely glad to get them a shitty old beater car, appropriate tools, and look into working on that car with them. However, for their daily driver, I would heavily insist on getting them a less than 10 years old japanese economy car they can use on the daily basis or in case where something on their "learning car mechanics" beater went wrong. You make mistakes when you learn, and I wouldn't want their daily life to be handicapped due to making a mistake or two.