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Comment by robto | Hacker News Reader

One thing I'm considering is getting my kid a laptop when they start asking for a smartphone. They'll be able to engage socially for the most part, but it won't have the "with you every moment of every day" problem. And instead of a device that's mainly geared towards consumption, they'll at least have tool that's designed to to empower its user.

And it will run Linux! No kid of mine will grow up thinking proprietary software is normal! The source is yours to command!

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If they turn out not to be a programmer, won't using Linux hurt them? Basically every other profession/industry either use windows-only software, or have some kind of policy to use windows (microsoft intune, etc...)

It's not hard to learn the basics of another operating system, and it's something they're going to have to do no matter what. They'll be learning new software their whole lives. And how would using software that respects their privacy and agency hurt them? I don't particularly want to them to be software devs, I want to empower them to use tools to accomplish their goals, and Linux is great for that.

Aim higher! afaik, in academia and research Linux is widely used.

Seriously though, with the trend towards computing in the cloud, I doubt it really matters. Chances are, employees will find some kind of (portable) terminal to the cloud at their desk. SONIC is already offering mind boggling 10Gbps (!) connections to (some) residences in California. Who knows how computer applications will look like in ten, fifteen years.

When I was in school there was a lot of fear about not using Microsoft in public schools (Windows, Office, etc.) because of not preparing students for office jobs. Nowadays most schools use Chromebooks or iPads. And plenty of jobs use Google Suite, Apple, and non-Microsoft platforms too. Maybe they won't be using a GNU/Linux software suite as often, but the world is not all on one platform anymore.

If they can type out any linux command, it should be no problem for them to hit a few buttons in windows.

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