Anyone have luck booting a "Kids" friendly linux distro?

Framework Laptop 13
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I’m trying to have a live boot of a “kids” distro. Something that just has some games and is good enough for a ~6 year old to use. I don’t have a wifi module, so I’m trying to put an iso on a usb that includes everything.

Qimo seems right up my alley, but it doesn’t boot on the framework laptop

Same for Leeenux For Kids
Download Leeenux – Leeenux Linux (paid distro)

I also tried sugar linux

with no luck

For the hell of it. I tried puppy linux (no luck with that either)

but lubuntu did end up working. So I might try to see if theres a kids version of lubuntu or something, but any pointers from anyone that is familiar with linux would be awesome. Cheers

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One thing to double check is which Linux kernel the distro uses. You want >=5.13 for wifi to work reliably. So, for example, Puppy Linux FossaPup64 won’t work because it’s using kernel 5.4. One option could be to try a community compiled experimental version, like here: https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=4015&sid=62866f688c550f3d92784f4847c95c6c

Another promising option could be DebianEdu. You can download the “BD” iso which they claim can be set up without internet connection.
[ cf. This post from @Brett_Kosinski may be useful Debian based Linux on the Framework Laptop - #24 by Brett_Kosinski ]

Edubuntu used to be the educational version of Ubuntu but it’s not maintained anymore.

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So there’s actually a version of Fedora that uses Sugar.

https://spins.fedoraproject.org/en/soas/

This should do the trick. Apparently the current version of Fedora (34) is working very well on Framework and the newest version (35) is coming out in October according to the team’s schedule which will iron out the remaining issues.

My experience with 11th gen Intel laptops has been solid on Fedora 34 + 35 Beta.

I’d say this is your best option for fewest amount of fuss!

2 Likes
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I would give EndlessOS a shot, you can get the ‘full’ version that includes more content so that you could leave the system offline and still very useful for learning.

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I don’t have a wifi module, so I’m trying to put an iso on a usb that includes everything.

I will try debianEdu

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I tried this yesterday without any luck. I’ll give it another shot.

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OoOOOH! This looks more along the lines of what I’m looking for. A full distro that already has a bunch of stuff installed for a child. Will try this out today!

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This is also the distro used by hack-computer.com and they’ve released the “Hack” learning functionality back to EndlessOS as well.

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Just want to follow up.

  1. Fedora SoaS was actually pretty nice. very simple, but enough to keep a kid entertained… even with just the abacus app. =)
  2. I tried the Fedora Games distro and that was actually pretty nice too for an older child since it had a bunch of software preloaded
  3. EndlessOS was really great. A BUNCH of stuff preloaded. Software as well as an encyclopedia. Big UI even on a high res screen. Made it really easy to use. I think I might go with EndlessOS.
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The most challenging thing about EndlessOS if you are a bit more technical is that EndlessOS is designed to only use Flatpak or AppImages rather than deb or rpm packages, which can limit your selection a little bit. There are ways around it, but it reduces the stability and security of your system a bit.