Linux For Teenagers

[colkey]

Hi
I'm thinking of making a linux distro especially for teenagers and older kids! Does anybody have any suggestions.
Which desktop environment should I use?
How can I make it appeal to teenagers?
Any suggestions on programs that should be included?

[wojox]

Hannah Montana Linux (http://hannahmontana.sourceforge.net/Site/Home.html)

In b4 RiceMonster :P

[inobe]

teens like to talk on faceplant sites, gaia etc..

they also like games, good luck with that.

[Spice Weasel]

I'm a teenager and I use Fedora (http://fedoraproject.org/), but that probably isn't helpful at all to you.

[maqtanim]

How can I make it appeal to teenagers?
Any suggestions on programs that should be included?
Isn't this the the first thing that should motivate you to create a Linux Distro for the teenagers? :P

Just curious... why do the teens need a separate Linux Distro? What makes you inspired to create such a distro only for teens?

[Aquix]

Puppylinux or maybe tiny core linux. :P

[Dustin2128]

I was 13 when I swapped to ubuntu. I really see no point in having a linux for teenagers, but I can't think of a smartass comment, so bye.

[cgroza]

I was 13 when I swapped to ubuntu. I really see no point in having a linux for teenagers, but I can't think of a smartass comment, so bye.
Me too, I am 15 now and I use Ubuntu, testing Natty right now.

[cgroza]

teens like to talk on faceplant sites, gaia etc..

they also like games, good luck with that.

I'm 15 and I do not play games, I am sure that teens that are really interested into Linux are not game addicts like the other ones.

[Dustin2128]

I'm 15 and I do not play games, I am sure that teens that are really interested into Linux are not game addicts like the other ones.
Eh, speak for yourself. I just balance the two by making my games work on linux.

[Hur Dur]

KDE has a similar interface to that of Windows 7. IceWM is lighter, and can be customized to look like Windows XP. No need to treat the user like an idiot, though.

[cgroza]

Eh, speak for yourself. I just balance the two by making my games work on linux.
This is up to you if you include your self in the "others".

[linuxforartists]

teens like to talk on faceplant sites, gaia etc..


Like inobe said, anything that helps teens get on their social networks would be attractive.

Things to include:
--Easy photo upload to Facebook, Flickr

--Out-of-the-box webcam functionality

--Plug n' play with iPods, iPhones, etc.

--Client for posting to Twitter, Facebook and sites like that.

I feel like the most recent version of Ubuntu already has a lot of these features, e.g. Me Menu and Gwibber. Not sure how you can differentiate a "LinuxTeen" distro from regular Ubuntu.

But anything that gets more people to use Linux is positive. Good luck!

[Spice Weasel]

--Pre-packaged wallpapers of some teen celebrities.

I think you're confusing 'teens' with 'idiots'.

[Hur Dur]

Like inobe said, anything that helps teens get on their social networks would be attractive. What they really need is help with schoolwork, but that's a whole other rant :roll:.

Things to include:
--Easy photo upload to Facebook, Flickr

--Out-of-the-box webcam functionality

--Plug n' play with iPods, iPhones, etc.

--Pre-packaged wallpapers of some teen celebrities.

--Client for posting to Twitter, Facebook and sites like that.

I feel like the most recent version of Ubuntu already has a lot of these features, e.g. Me Menu and Gwibber. Not sure how you can differentiate a "LinuxTeen" distro from regular Ubuntu.

But anything that gets more people to use Linux is positive. Good luck!

What exactly can your soon-to-be distro do that Windows can't?

[Quadunit404]

What exactly can your soon-to-be distro do that Windows can't?

Better yet, what can it do that Ubuntu can't do OOTB?

[Timmer1240]

Ubuntu Justin Bieber Remix!Ah what do I know about teenagers these day Im 47 years old been a long time since I was one we never had Linux then or Windows!

[cgroza]

Ubuntu Justin Bieber Remix!Ah what do I know about teenagers these day Im 47 years old been a long time since I was one we never had Linux then or Windows!
You wont get any male teenagers with that kind of distro.:P

[XubuRoxMySox]

I'm a teen and I use Xubuntu. I find it simpler (and prettier) than Gnome or KDE and much less "vanilla" than LXDE. Totally and easily customizable for any tastes, teen, little kid, or adult.

I have school apps from Edubuntu, a few games, and music editing software for my dance stuff. Perfect for this teen, but other teens would probably find it boring, lol.

-Robin

[beercz]

Hi
I'm thinking of making a linux distro especially for teenagers and older kids! Does anybody have any suggestions.
Which desktop environment should I use?
How can I make it appeal to teenagers?
Any suggestions on programs that should be included?
Forget it!

Teenages want to chat on facebook, msn etc, play music, watch you tube and surf - and they want to do it from anywhere, using their smart phones.

I should know, I have two teenage kids and they do all the above on their mobile gadgets.

[AllRadioisDead]

I'm a teenager and Linux appeals to me just fine.

[TechSupportx86]

All kids care about is how something looks. i mean you don't have 17 year old girls questioning if a computer would be good for future use beyond college, or taking the the processor speed into serious consideration (imagine if we did tho 8-)). they just like the pretty shape and simple UI.

For girls: Go with simple to use and pretty icons and stuff
For guys: Nice dark themes and pretty ladies and cars as pre-install wallpapers

Or just make one shortcut that opens up facebook. Nothing else, just one facebook link.

Possible Names:
Parents-suck Remix
life-is-hard Linux
OMFG 64-bit Server Edition
Justin Beiber 5.17 (isthat agirl?)

Personal fav: life-is-hard Linux, has a nice ring to it :D

[Megaptera]

Not all teens are in to games and "In yer Face" Book, and have school/college to enjoy.
You might pick up some ideas from UberStudent (quote) "While foremost for academic computing, UberStudent is also decked out for multimedia, graphics, messaging, and even games, all with the needs of students in mind."

http://www.uberstudent.org/

[t0p]

I don't really see the need for a "Linux for Teenagers" distro. Teenagers are just people who happen to be aged 13-19. Some like gaming, others loathe it. Some are geeks, others are un-geeky. Some use Facebook, others don't. Some like sports, others don't.

If a teenager wants to use Linux, he will check it out in the same way as an adult. Teenagers are, on the whole, young adults. To treat them differently would be patronising.

The OP would be better off using his skills to address a problem that actually exists. Far too much time is spent trying to target a teen audience that isn't so very different to an adult audience.

Incidentally, I would have thought the Hannah Montana "remix" is aimed at pre-teens, rather than teenagers. I'm pretty sure any teenagers I know/have known would avoid it like the plague. Anyway, that "remix" is just a joke, isn't it? Regular kind of distro with the addition of some daft wallpapers and the like. Though I've never actually used it, so avid Hannah fans please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong (again).

[isoscelesrectangle]

I'm a teenager, and Ubuntu's fine for me. I in fact, would hate any sort of Linux distribution focused on the stereotypical punk rock/heavy metal teen. Then again, I don't think I'm the average teenager. (I type in Dvorak, I listen to classical music.) I enjoy the current minimalist feel of Ubuntu. A teenage edition would be terrible, just in my humble opinion.

[Johnsie]

I think the above comment says it all. Most people who actively choose to use Linux are not normal. I don't think having a certain look will convince teenagers to use Linux. Teenagers like to copy the alpha-teenagers, so the best way to get them to use Linux is to get the cool teenagers using and then all the clones will follow. Take some ideas from the way the goth/emo culture spread among teenagers.

[Luinar]

I was a teenager when I first started using Linux. I didn't start because I thought it would be easy, or because there were any distros around back then which appealed to me 'as a teen'. I started because I WANTED the challenge of getting it to work and, if I'm being honest, because I wanted to get some geek points under my belt.

So, echoing many other comments here, don't tar all teenagers with the same brush. ;)

[disabledaccount]

I think that Johnsie is right, at least to some point - some time ago my friend's winXP has died becuse of some nasty viruses - he asked me to reinstall it. But laptop's DVD has died too so I told him to buy new DVD then I can install XP again (I had no possibility to make USB-bootable installation stick that time). But his 4 years old Acer had old DVD connector and it would take much time to get new compatible DVD drive - so I offered him to install U9.10 for the mean-time to make him able to browse internet and do other usual things. When he bought the DVD he even dont't want to hear about installing XP. But that is not the most important part - he has two sons: 16 and 17 years old - those two figured out how to install some games and how to connect their phones to that laptop, and few weeks ago they asked me how have I managed to run COD4, because one of their friends wants it. The most strange thing is that they have used win98/winXP for whole their life - I even haven't told them a word what to with that system... :)

[Jagoly]

Create a distro so much as mentioning J****n B****r and I will personally rip off your head, burn down your house, and eat your goldfish.

also, I'm 14 and I couldn't care less about easy access to social networks, I use my iTouch. But that does bring up something else: better support for ipods. But that isn't really just building you own iso. That's actuall makeing the software itself. if you did make something useful, it would be put into the standard ubuntu anyway.

Also I'm offended by all that emo crap. I like 60s-80s rock'n'roll and jazz.

[Zero2Nine]

Some good things are mentioned: social network integration, a shiny interface and support for syncing with mobile devices. Maybe another idea: A Wizard application for installing proprietary drives if necessary. I think a lot of teenagers like to work on laptops with wireless internet. As we all no this gives problems with some cards and might require to use windows drivers via ndiswrapper. So an easier installation guide for such drivers might be nice. Most teenagers use computers a lot but are not necessarily good with them :P

[Jagoly]

One of my favourite feelings of all is the one that you get after getting new hardware to work. Make a distro designed for teens and advertise it as "simpler", and I know I wouldn't use it. It needs a good collection of software that teens, which are often students, would use. I, for example, use educaton orientated software alot. I also watch alot of movies. I would sync my iPod. I program. I browse the Internet. However, a lot of my friends do very different things. They social network, play games (so do I, but not often. Would if this distro had better support for windows games) and watch YouTube videos. Teens are not all the same.

Anyway, people seem to be forgetting: this is a spin. In it goes a different colections of different software, not entirely new things. Would a ubuntu developer create something awesome and then only put it in a custom distro? No. They would upload it to the PPA's. We aren't building a brand new OS. What (I assum) the OP is making is more along the lines of Linux mint; same OS basically, with different features.

[Jagoly]

Dammit. Just wrote a long speech, and my iPod went flat. Anyway better mswin compatiblity. Alternatives to software used in school. Like dreamweaver or Photoshop.

[RoflHaxBbq]

I'm 13, and I guarantee I know more about Linux than 95 percent of Adults that use Linux.

What makes you think we need a distro especially for us? Isn't Ubuntu dumbed down enough for noobs?

There are two types of teenagers. The noobs who use Windows and only go on facebook and all that crap, and then the ones who, for lack of a better word, are "1337".

TL;DR, We don't need our own distro. I'll just stick with Debian for now.

[koleoptero]

http://ubuntusatanic.org/

[TriBlox6432]

I'm 16 and I've been using ubuntu since I was 13. Nothing separate needed.

[Breambutt]

I was like 11 or something when I started using Slackware 3.x in the mid-90's, so maybe I can join your virtual wiener contest. However, I didn't really feel like I'm the average kid and I still don't feel like I'm an average young adult.

There's always a handful of pioneers and the rest merely follow, and I'm guessing the OP doesn't put much value to "being able to use the distro" as opposed to "being accessible and appealing".

Either way, Ubuntu is already teenified to the maximum. If you want more kids and teens to discover the wonderful world of Linux, I'm afraid your main premise and approach need a little honing.

[Simian Man]

I thought Ubuntu was designed for teenagers.

[Supergoo]

I think the above comments say it all. Heck I keep learning tricks from the Teens, Maybe a Linux for old slow people hmmmmm... Nah
Ubuntu is fine for everybody.

[uRock]

I thought Ubuntu was designed for teenagers.

I thought Arch was for teens? Teens are usually faster learners.

The ones that want click done, hassle-free OSes will probably keep using whatever comes on their system ie, Windows 7 or OSX.

IMO, If there was ever a real need to create a teen based OS, then I think Microsoft would have already tried it.

[Supergoo]

Well said Urock