
Google unleashes Coder for Raspberry Pi as kid-friendly tool - evo_9
http://phys.org/news/2013-09-google-unleashes-coder-raspberry-pi.html
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primitur
I've been playing with Coder for the last few days .. and the thing I like
most about it is that the majority of the knowledge imparted is done through
the comments .. I think this not only teaches kids good programming practice,
but it also gives them the perfect distraction-free environment to be involved
with what they're doing - just like commerical developers.

Also, it should be noted that the whole Coder package can be run on any Unix-
ish machine (Linux/OSX/BSD) with ease; it doesn't require a rPi in order to
get value out of it.

One conclusion I've made after 48 hours with Coder, is that developing for the
Web sure is a lot more convoluted than it should be, alas. On the other hand,
if I can fork Coder for my own needs (I'd like to use it to build a blog app)
it'll be a lot less complicated.

~~~
freehunter
I've considered learning web coding for quite some time now, but every time I
try to learn I get frustrated that I need to learn at least three languages
(HTML, JS, CSS) in order to get anything but a simple static web page.
Meanwhile I could pick up a desktop-oriented language and get everything done
with one code base.

~~~
reustle
Sure, but the complexity of that single "desktop-oriented language" will be
much higher than HTML and CSS...

~~~
kbutler
...and JavaScript? and JavaScript libraries for widgets? and browser
incompatibilities? and hosting?

I keep going in circles on how to teach my kids programming - maybe GameSalad
or similar really is the way to get started...

~~~
freehunter
The early 2000s were a simpler time. Visual Basic was still perfectly viable
as an enterprise programming language for CRUD applications, you had one
simple language to learn, and could build an interface by clicking your mouse.

I don't miss VB, but I seriously wonder why the community was so quick to move
on without ever actually replacing it.

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traek
I think it's kinda sad that Google Code is abandoned and so far behind the
competition that even Google teams use Github instead.

~~~
ghshephard
Contrawise, isn't it kind of great that GitHub is doing such a good job AND
Google teams are not forced to use tools just because they are from Google?

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ktr100
Is it just me or is the phys.org site down?

~~~
wcchandler
It was loading slowly for me. Here is the Youtube embedded video announcement:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH24YwdayFg&hd=1](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH24YwdayFg&hd=1)

~~~
ktr100
Thanks!

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da_n
Great, but to be honest this all feels almost cynical at this point coming
from Google, headline might as well read:

> NSA unleashes Coder for Raspberry Pi as kid-friendly tool

Don't get me wrong, I have a Raspberry Pi and think it has great educational
potential, I think it is great that Google is doing this, but I have lost all
trust in them that anything they do they actually give a shit about anymore,
this just feels like a crappy PR move.

~~~
freehunter
Don't get me wrong, I hate the NSA spying as much as the next person on HN and
I think it's great that people are upset, but this might as well read:

>Google has no choice but to comply with the NSA, continues operating despite
their pending lawsuit against the federal government.

Not everything Google does has to be framed within the confines of the NSA
debate. I'm struggling to understand how the NSA has anything to do with
teaching kids how to code on a Raspberry Pi through a Google project, or even
why the NSA would care.

~~~
da_n
Yes, I guess my comment was about how ridiculous it is that this was my
feeling and reaction, that the situation we are in makes me jump to such
conclusions. I have a lot of faith that the ground level sys admins and
engineers at Google are actually good people who probably are as angry about
all this as I am, they do not design their systems with agendas or back-doors,
only the few are compelled to. Unfortunately the well has been poisoned and
all trust is now gone, I can only view the actions of the company Google with
cynicism and skepticism.

~~~
hobolobo
You are most definitely not alone in your reaction. I am still bemused that
Google's owners were, and remain, too scared to speak out publicly about what
is going on, even after the revelations which have been made. Not just Google,
however. All the major tech firms appear to be on the hook.

~~~
da_n
+1. I think a lot of people just want this thing to "go away", be happy and
remember the great stuff the US does, just admire the philanthropic endeavours
this multi-billion dollar company is doing, all in the name of education and
access to bash. I am not surprised by the downvotes on my comment. The US Gov
has burnt all their bridges, the world trusted them as a thought leader on
anti-censorship, pro-freedom. At this point I feel the rest of the world needs
to cut the cable (literally) and leave the US alone, you want to monitor every
fucking email, go ahead, we route around you. You stood up and gave yourself
the role of steward of the internet (I know Al Gore invented it), and you did
a great job un until the NSA fucked it all up. Mission accomplished?

Sorry to be so cynical, but seriously you need to make your Gov. accountable
for the insane fuck-up they have perpetuated here, I would go so far as to say
the NSA is now a terrorist organisation and needs to be stamped out.

Edit: just to make it clear, I admire the USA and love the core values of your
country. I am British, and my country is way worse than yours in many ways (Mr
Douche Cameron introducing filtering for example because "think of the
children"). You have been bestowed stewardship of the internet (you invented
it after all, Darpa etc) but have done a terrible job in recent years. This is
due to the terrible FISC/FISA rubber stamping allowing those who would always
seek more power to get it. Your bad example of stewardship however only gives
countries like China and Iran more excuses to enforce their disgusting filters
and firewalls. You can still do something about this by telling 'them' it is
not OK. Oh, and never allow them to take away your guns, that is a good thing
to have.

~~~
magicalist
First look up the Guardian's coverage of GCHQ. Stones, glass houses, etc.

It still has nothing to do with wanting the subject to "go away", it's that
your post is completely irrelevant to an open source programming environment
for the Raspberry Pi. That's why I downvoted your comment. It adds absolutely
nothing to a conversation on the subject at hand, and is generic enough that a
decent bot could generate your top-level comment on any subject with Google in
the submission title. Seriously, you're like one step away from those blog
comments that try to stay on topic while "subtly" working in a link to their
discount counterfeit purses or whatever. Mindless knee-jerkery is not
something I want to see encouraged, so I'm happy to help downvote it to
oblivion.

~~~
da_n
Well, go and look at the Wikipedia entry for PRISM and follow the leads to the
UK coverage, anything to do with GCHQ is gag ordered. Nobody is talking about
this fact, yet we should all do a kumbayah around the fire because Google have
released a FOSS product "for the children". This stinks of PR. As I say, I
have faith that those on the ground at Google have nothing but good intentions
and want to change the world for the better, but we now live in a world where
you cannot trust them. This is exactly the same as if Nestle released an open
source solution for breast feeding, nothing but a PR repair strategy. I hate
to be the one saying this by the way, because I have for years loved Google
and put almost everything in their cloud solution.

Edit: Oh and I have exactly zero to gain from trolling Google, I am not
promoting Skydrive or Spideroak because they are both equally dubious, why
does my reaction to a company deeply tied into the recent revelations about
all out data being processed by the US gov have to be considered non-relevant?

Edit edit: I believe I am contributing to this story because my comment is
about the company involved in creating it and the relationship of trust they
have (in the sphere of computer geeks and Hacker News this is particularly
poignant). If you believe things should only be 100% related to the article,
to never deviate and discuss things such as the the company, fair enough to
downvote me.

