All over the world millions of kids are studying computers and technology. Imagine what a difference we could make if we could figure out how to help the open source community embrace that opportunity. What if we could help kids explore how computer systems in the real world work in a friction-less playground that allows them to crack open the box, explore its insides and tinker.

School will soon be out for the summer. There are a slew of Linux programs for kids -- including Tux Paint, Celestia and Edubuntu -- that parents can use to entertain the little ones.

I seriously don’t understand why schools don’t do this. If your school needs a PC lab, buy a whole bunch of Pentium 3 computers (or even Pentium 2) and run Ubuntu. It comes with almost everything a school computer needs. Kids in public school won’t know how to modify the system in any way and its completely safe to use.

Qimo is a desktop operating system designed for kids. Based on the open source Ubuntu Linux desktop, Qimo comes pre-installed with educational games for children aged 3 and up. So If you want to teach your children to use Linux from an early age, Qimo is the perfect for your kids.

One of the biggest arguments used against Linux in grade school level education is that we aren't teaching kids to use the applications they'll use in the "real world". As the Technology Director for a K-12 school district, I've heard that argument many times. After all these years, I still don't buy it.

One of my main fears about switching to a different operating system was that it would disrupt my studies. Fortunately, this fear was unfounded – in fact, I can confidently say that Linux actually made my school experience much easier and smoother.

"Today, Sunday, is the first day of Red Hat High, and I’m expecting 47 kids. It’s 4:00 in the afternoon, and orientation starts at 4:30."

Working with school systems one thing you will notice in almost every case is a pathetic library…there is just not enough money for books. Each district has a budget for books which is often augmented by a Library Fair or some type of way of selling stuff to get money for the Library. But still there just is not enough money for kids to have books.

"Jabi Lake Secondary School, on the outskirts of Abuja in Nigeria, is the poster child for a project set up by chip-maker Intel aimed at bridging the digital divide."
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