[HN Gopher] Bashcrawl: Learn Linux commands by playing a simple ...
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       Bashcrawl: Learn Linux commands by playing a simple text adventure
        
       Author : free-malloc
       Score  : 180 points
       Date   : 2021-10-10 15:57 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (gitlab.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (gitlab.com)
        
       | mdp2021 wrote:
       | It is genius. But also since the "action on objects" is based on
       | executing files, should not be the first command a ` _chroot_ ` -
       | just to put the learner in the right mindset?
        
       | BiteCode_dev wrote:
       | It's pretty well done, I almost forgot I was in my shell, and
       | when the games gets to "tree to map the dungeon", I was almost
       | surprised I didn't think about it before: I felt like playing a
       | game, not coding in bash :)
        
       | johnchristopher wrote:
       | Oh come on, first room and I already learn something new despite
       | using linux for years :D                 alias ls='ls -F'
       | 
       | I am going to spend some time with it, I hope the awk rituals are
       | explained later on :).
       | 
       | edit: Maybe the author should provide a list of commands that
       | will be taught ?
        
       | praveen9920 wrote:
       | This is the future of learning anything. I would rather play an
       | engaging game than read 300 pages of text book and still has to
       | Google for doing anything meaningful.
        
         | beebeepka wrote:
         | I can't learn anything really new to me by simply reading. Very
         | much a hands on guy. School was hard. But not everyone is like
         | that and while I agree that learning should be fun, I would
         | very much like to not force what works for me on everyone else.
         | 
         | One man's fun is another man's nightmare
        
       | bitwize wrote:
       | This looks neat. Once upon a time -- back in the 80s -- there was
       | a utility called 'learn' that was a Unix command line tutorial.
       | After each lesson, you could do these exercises where you were
       | dropped into a fake shell, replete with fake directories and
       | that, and had to get things into a certain expected state. They
       | were typical business-related tasks, nothing cool and dungeon-y,
       | but I learned my basic Unix commands that way. It's good to see
       | learning tools like this re-emerge.
        
       | sodality2 wrote:
       | I learned with Kano OS (kid's computer kit) running on a
       | Raspberry Pi at age 12. A similar console-type game that taught
       | me all the common commands still sticks with me to this day. This
       | will be a good refresher, years later. :)
       | 
       | https://allthingsd.com/20131203/the-99-kids-computer-kit-kan...
        
         | xrd wrote:
         | Kano looks amazing. I wish it wasn't Windows even though I'm
         | sure it would be a bad idea for most people to run Linux on it.
         | But what a cool company. The peripherals are so cool.
         | 
         | Anyone know of a similar option for Linux based kids computer?
        
           | sodality2 wrote:
           | The original Kano Computer Kit is Linux-based! You can run it
           | on a Raspberry Pi or purchase the Raspberry Pi kit.
           | Personally I just flashed the OS on a flash drive.
           | https://kano.me/us/downloadable
           | 
           | It's only the newer Kano laptop that's Windows-based.
        
             | xrd wrote:
             | Is there hardware for this one?
        
               | sodality2 wrote:
               | Nothing special. They sell a kit that includes a
               | bluetooth keyboard and a case and stuff, but there's
               | nothing particular about it, besides branding.
        
               | xrd wrote:
               | Ok. I actually could not find that, do you have a link?
               | 
               | This is still great, and thanks for sharing. I'm just
               | looking for the perfect combination of durability,
               | hackability and as free from commercial (ad vehicles) as
               | possible.
        
               | sodality2 wrote:
               | It's gone from their store page, but you can find
               | listings on Ebay and Amazon, as well as info on their
               | help page [0]. As far as I can tell it was just sold as
               | "Kano Kit" with a raspberry pi, bluetooth keyboard. (Kano
               | Kit Touch seems to be another one they sell, with a touch
               | screen; then there's the laptop they sell nowadays)
               | 
               | Not quite sure why it's gone from their homepage, seems
               | to be discontinued as per B&H listing [1].
               | 
               | [0]: https://help.kano.me/hc/en-us
               | 
               | [1]: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1450064-REG/k
               | ano_1000...
               | 
               | However, I recommend simply buying a generic Raspberry Pi
               | kit (usb power supply, kb+mouse, HDMI cable, case, etc)
               | and just flashing Kano OS onto it. It's essentially the
               | same experience.
        
         | clajiness wrote:
         | > I learned with Kano OS (kid's computer kit) running on a
         | Raspberry Pi at age 12.
         | 
         | I wish I had been able to use a Pi at age 12. :) I had a
         | Commodore64 that I LOVED.
        
       | nanomonkey wrote:
       | Anyone know the depth of information presented? Is there a list
       | of commands that are covered?
       | 
       | Is this fun?
        
         | LewisVerstappen wrote:
         | I played around with it for 5-10 mins and found it pretty fun.
         | 
         | I think this is a great idea.
         | 
         | That being said, I think it's a bit too advanced for someone
         | with no CLI experience whatsoever.
         | 
         | It would be great if this could be combined with a codecademy
         | type thing so you can have clear instructions on the left and a
         | terminal on the right.
        
       | tyingq wrote:
       | _" Then drag and drop the entrance directory from this folder
       | into your terminal"_
       | 
       | Kind of a funny way to start out a "text" adventure :)
        
         | nine_k wrote:
         | It's for those not yet accustomed to typing shell commands.
        
       | johnklos wrote:
       | It's one thing that so many people who really should know better
       | call anything Unix-y Linux.
       | 
       | Now we're completely going the whole way and calling macOS Linux,
       | too?
       | 
       | It's pedantic, I know, but when I see this, I can't help but
       | imagine the person who chose to use the phrase "Linux commands"
       | doesn't really know what they're doing.
        
         | jfk13 wrote:
         | To be fair, the README does make it more general:
         | 
         | > This is a game to teach you the basics of using a POSIX
         | (Linux, BSD, UNIX) terminal.
        
         | pbhjpbhj wrote:
         | I'm fine with being pedantic. However, they _are_ "Linux
         | commands", they're just not _exclusively_ so (and no, I 'm not
         | going to get into 'but Linux is a kernel ...').
         | 
         | It's like having 'a guide to kitchen tools' and you complain
         | that cleavers are also used outside kitchens -- for sure, but
         | they're still "kitchen tools".
         | 
         | A lot of people won't be using a POSIX shell, XNU is what it
         | says it is, ... what are you going to call it? 'Linux-like
         | commands'? You're going to lose a load of learners who are
         | looking for 'the command line, y'know, linux' rather than
         | something that's not it but is like it.
         | 
         | Kinda a premature specification.
        
         | jazzyjackson wrote:
         | maybe call them "linux-compatible" ? (:
        
         | monsieurbanana wrote:
         | > This is a game to teach you the basics of using a POSIX
         | (Linux, BSD, UNIX) terminal.
         | 
         | Second line of the README.
         | 
         | You're not the target for this.
         | 
         | If you just installed your first Linux distribution, don't know
         | anything about the command line, you're not going to click on
         | something called "Learn POSIX shell...".
        
           | johnklos wrote:
           | You did see the title, right?
        
             | MrGilbert wrote:
             | > _[...] the person who chose to use the phrase "Linux
             | commands" doesn't really know what they're doing._
             | 
             | I'm quite certain they know pretty well what they are
             | doing. To catch people's attention, you need to use "their"
             | language. People will search for "linux command" more often
             | than for "posix command". And it's totally fine to use that
             | in the description, just to make it more precise in the
             | Readme.
        
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       (page generated 2021-10-10 23:00 UTC)