I would like to introduce Linux to students during workshops. Since my daily-use distribution is Manjaro, I will introduce them to Manjaro.
The first step will be to boot Manjaro from a USB stick so that the students can explore it a bit. However, after a few minutes, after launching some applications, they usually give up because they have no idea what they can do with Linux…
That’s why I would like to propose a small puzzle game, like an “escape game.” The goal would be to install the game package and run it to find clues (for example, codes that would allow them to obtain pieces forming a puzzle).
The different “missions” could be organized by topics (Gnome, KDE, XFCE, terminal, graphics, office tools, etc.)
Here are some examples:
GNOME:
Install a wallpaper from the package that displays a code
Switch to dark mode to find another code
Use the file manager to find a PDF file from the package
Run a command in the terminal
Launch a game
Graphics:
Install/open a GIMP file and find a clue by enabling layers
Install/open an Inkscape file and find a clue by enabling layers
...
I was thinking of creating the program with Godot.
Before going any further i want to know what do you think about it? Could this game have its place in the Manjaro project (for example, in Manjaro Hello?)
Sounds cool. The terminal part is probably not suitable for learning by doing. Maybe after a lesson first. You can take some ideas from my cheatsheet. Like pacman Syu, du, etc.
I’m a Manjaro user, and cannot speak for the Manjaro team, however, I don’t think this is something that is likely to be included with the system, if that is where the topic was heading.
From the description, your game might be better suited as a questionaire of sorts, with a token revealed (your code) when a correct answer is selected.
The simplest construction would likely be a multiple choice scenario for each question, I imagine. Perhaps a single page web app might be an option.
Whatever method you choose, I wish you well with your project.
@Cyprien1
I really like your idea. I think that it’s not only interesting for students, but also for people switching over and beginners to Manjaro. Now I’m just a normal user and not a programmer, so unfortunately I can’t contribute anything to the implementation.
Most of it isn’t easily possible with a live system - where are the practice files supposed to be coming from when not already there in the live booted system …?
Do not underestimate the intelligence and nefariousness of quite a portion of the audience.
If they can access the actual drive of the system - they will do so.
I would - immediately.
And they can then do … whatever to it
from the live system access point you give them
I do think full installs would be better though if practical, maybe running VirtualBox and the students use those. Easy to deploy, duplicate, snapshot, reset etc…
Just out of curiosity, was Manjaro the first GNU / Linux distro you tried? How did you learn what you know?
Either way, I don’t recommend a rolling-release distro like Manjaro as an introduction to GNU / LInux. A fixed release distro like Linux Mint would be much better suited for newcomers.
Having said that, you could also teach them the difference between fixed-release and rolling-release distros by showing them the difference between Linux Mint and Manjaro both with the Cinnamon desktop.
Great! Thanks for your answers! Now, I need to respond to the questions and comments
I want something more attractive than that…
Nice Cheatsheet ! Do you think it could be possible to put it on a printable PDF ?
The files could be installed by the game package in the /usr/share directory.
If I give students I don’t know access to a computer, it’s because the computer doesn’t contain any sensitive data. At worst, the students can boot Manjaro from a USB stick on their own computer.
I’m using Linux since middle of 90’s started with Mandrake, then Ubuntu, Mint, Debian and finally Manjaro since 5 years !
I love manjaro and i’ve write two articles on it in french
I’ve installed many distributions for beginners, and Manjaro is the best for me. Even though there are a lot of updates (on Manjaro, it’s not that frequent), they are easy to manage with a few precautions. Upgrading versions with Mint or Ubuntu is much more complicated in my opinion. But that’s just my opinion and my (limited) experience.
How attractive it may be is only limited by your basic CSS and HTML skills; and your imagination. Oh, and …
Good luck.
Copy the cheatsheet text to clipboard and paste it to a text file.
From that point you can print it to oldschool paper or PDF, or any application you might have at your disposal. Save it with an appropriate extension and mark it as executable, and you can even test it live.
Cheers.
It seems to me that you (the OP) could possibly mimic many terminal commands in a script designed to provide feedback when a correct command is entered – rather than actually initiate a command.
@Teo’s cheatsheet might give you plenty of inspiration for something like that. Of course, that would require some grounding in scripting (it’s fundamentally not all that different from cmd or bat scripts in Windows).
started with Mandrake, then Ubuntu, Mint, Debian and finally Manjaro since 5 years !