I'm not the organizer and was not asked to post this, but I've attended their events in the past and they are very thoughtful and well done. Nikhil, who runs Out of Pocket, is very reputable in the Healthcare/Healthtech world.
op here, thanks for the question! Yup, any old laptop will do the job, that's the point! But by installing this as the OS essentially, kids can have ownership over the machine. As for why it's not good enough for adults: old computers don't always run new software very well, but Ubuntu + TUI = very smooth.
Author here. I'm curious whether other parents would actually want something like this. It’s intentionally very opinionated: no desktop, no browser, no apps, just boots straight in. I don’t know if that constraint feels freeing or limiting to others.
Distribution is the biggest open question for me. Right now it’s just an ISO you flash yourself, but I’m experimenting with mailing pre-flashed USB drives. I've also thought about preloading old laptops, though that adds a lot of overhead.
I'm also very open to technical feedback around the input layer (evdev for true key-down/key-up, sticky shift, double-tap caps) and the paint-style color mixing, or anything else. Thank you!