Frequently asked questions

On this page you will find a list of questions that users might ask themselves. Please do not hesitate to contribute and expand this list, for example, by leaving a comment on the bottom of this page. Note: questions regarding the use of DoudouLinux are included, but not philosophical questions about the DoudouLinux project! For those types of questions, please refer to section About.

General questions

Can I copy DoudouLinux?

Yes. The license of DoudouLinux permits an infinite number of copies; moreover, unlike many editors or manufacturers, we encourage each of you to make as many copies as possible! In fact we believe that software should be part of the technical and scientific patrimony of humanity, just as any other intellectual creation. Please refer to section About of this site if you are interested in this topic.

Can I give, distribute or lend DoudouLinux?

Again, yes. Unlike licenses of many other computer softwares this is fully allowed, even encouraged, to give, distribute or lend DoudouLinux as you wish, without any limitation in regards to the manner of doing this [1]. However, you must preserve and keep visible the name DoudouLinux as indicated in our license agreement. This is a good way to help the project and advertise for it, of course.

Can I modify DoudouLinux?

Again, yes. Unlike licenses of most computer software, you can also modify DoudouLinux in order to adapt it to your specific needs. In this case you have to make the DoudouLinux name apparent enough, as the origin of the project, but as stated in the DoudouLinux license you must also make clear that it is a modified version. On the other hand, we also ask you to not use the name DoudouLinux for any new, derived project, in order to avoid unnecessary and unwanted confusions. Finally, you must know that you are not allowed to change the DoudouLinux license, even if you modified it.

Is DoudouLinux a new Linux, a new « distribution », jargon speaking?

Not really. DoudouLinux is based as much as possible on Debian Linux so that the project maintenance effort is considerably reduced. Therefore, DoudouLinux is not really a new distribution, but closer to another Debian Linux more suited to children. Some applications are developed specifically for DoudouLinux, but each application targeting children comes from Debian. This way we can concentrate our effort on adapting the interface to children’s needs and capabilities, and on maintenance of the website.

Why choose and use Linux?

The answer to this question will be more fully developed in the About section. Briefly, the reasons are the following:

• Linux natively comes with many applications, an important number of which are dedicated to children
• Linux installs with a very large base of drivers developed for almost all hardware available in the marketplace
• Linux requires less system resources than its competitors, OS X® and Windows®
• well designed tools do exist in order to create Linux systems on CD or on USB sticks as is DoudouLinux
• Linux is highly customizable
• Linux is more fun :-p
• and last but not least, the license allows users to use and duplicate Linux infinitely, while its competitors OS X® and Windows®, want just the opposite…

When will … ?

We do not know! DoudouLinux is a young community project. Setting up a plan supposes that we can rely on stable resources, either financial or human; but, unfortunately, we still have neither of them!

Name of the project, for US speakers

If you think that the name of our project is weird for US speakers, please read our page Questions and issues.

Contents of DoudouLinux

Why some translations are not completed or contain mistakes?

Depending on the language, it is true that some applications and the DoudouLinux interface may not be totally translated or may contain mistakes. Of course, you can inform us of any mistakes you find; but if you wish, you can download the Translation files or visit our translation portal on TransiFex as well and help us improve translations. As you may know, DoudouLinux is planned to be translated into more than 60 languages!

How to get a new language?

If the languages available for download do not match your language, you can contact us to build and upload on our servers a version for your language. Please note that, although DoudouLinux can support more than 60 different languages, the version built at your request will be a “raw” version not fully translated. Thereafter, if the workload does not frighten you, you can help us improve the translation and send us new texts by email for example. If you are motivated, you can translate our key web pages too, especially the user documentation.

How can DoudouLinux be contained in a single CD?

There are two main explanations for DoudouLinux to contain a full system (including drivers for hardware) and almost fifty applications on a single CD. On the one hand, DoudouLinux is built upon a Linux system, not a Mac OS X® system nor a Windows® system. Nowadays, Linux runs on 95% of the world’s supercomputers and on the majority of ADSL boxes used by Internet Service Providers. Truly, Linux is a very powerful and efficient system that does not need the latest hardware available on the market to run. On the other hand, DoudouLinux uses a technology to compress data onto the CDROM (or onto a USB stick). Without this, DoudouLinux would need from 1.2 to 1.4 GB of disk space. However, this is still much lower than the 20 GB required by some systems which themselves pretend to be at top of technological innovation…

How have DoudouLinux applications been chosen?

All of the applications included are from the Debian Linux program repositories, and have been chosen for their accessibility, their ease of use, the low space required on disk and, of course, for their educational or entertaining value. Generally, you will not find some of the more commonly installed applications because they are often overloaded with functionalities and waste disk space. This is also a good way to help them discover another manner to do computing and then to open their minds.

Why is there no office suite?

Why should there be one? Is it really an indispensable tool for children who will not be asked to write reports nor to make tables of figures? The truth is office suites are often not very useful at home for parents. Moreover, these tools waste too much disk space to fit on the single DoudouLinux CD. We would have had to remove numerous applications just for a tool that would see little use… So, we preferred ignoring office suites all the more since we see in professional life that these tools are often used incorrectly because people try to make these tools fit all their needs. To us it seems then, even more judicious to show them other programs and habits. These tools are available in many other Linux distributions.

Why is there so few modern music in DoudouLinux (pop, rock, etc.)?

Because of worldwide restrictive laws about copyright and authorship. To distribute a piece of music, you need to comply with its licensing terms as owned by its authors: composers, interprets, musicians. Any composition can be freely interpreted 50 years after the composer’s death, 75 or 90 years in some countries like France or USA. Any recording can be freely distributed following the same rules. For this reason, it is not possible to distribute DoudouLinux with songs that were played on the radio. We would need a special agreement from composers, interprets and musicians, who generally give their rights to records companies!

Why is there no Flash player?

There are several reasons why no Flash player is embedded into DoudouLinux:

• Flash players are greedy in computer resources
• they are greedy in disk space
• they often crash
• Adobe’s player cannot be distributed without signing a commercial agreement (we would have to pay them :( ), the free version does not handle the full Adobe format
• Flash contents cannot be analyzed by the parental controls
• there are known ways to spy on the user activity on its own computer using Flash tricks
• Flash contents is specific to web while we have built DoudouLinux to make children use the computer, not services on the Internet!

Prerequisites

What is the minimum configuration required?

Please read the paragraph Recommended configuration from the Download page.

Which version of Windows® is required for DoudouLinux to run?

It is totally indifferent: DoudouLinux does not use the system installed on your computer at all. You may have Windows®, BSD, FreeDOS, or anything else installed, it does not matter and it does not change anything.

Which version of Mac OS X® is required for DoudouLinux to run?

As said before concerning Windows®, this is totally indifferent, except that DoudouLinux does not run on Macintosh systems from before 2006. Consequently, it will run on systems shipped with OS X versions from that time or later.

Is it possible to remove the CD or the USB stick while running DoudouLinux?

In no way you should do this while DoudouLinux is running! DoudouLinux data are stored on the CD or USB key and these data are loaded whenever needed according to the user’s actions. If you remove the CD or USB key while running, you will most likely cause a “crash”, soon! However, your computer will be not damaged nor the CD, but eventually the USB key might be. On the contrary, just before computer shutdown, DoudouLinux will ask you to remove the medium because it is not needed anymore.

Daily use

Can DoudouLinux be abruptly stopped?

The answer is yes. If you press briefly the computer power button, the standard shutdown process will be started. If you press longer the same button, or if you experience a breakdown in the main power supply and there are no battery (laptops) or no UPS, your computer and your DoudouLinux system will not be damaged! At most will you lose data created in this activity, even if you have activated the data persistence.

How to preserve data?

As DoudouLinux does not record modified data, there is no risk to damage your computer or its data. But unfortunately you lose your work too at computer shutdown… You have two solutions to backup your work:

1. you can manually save your work onto USB memory devices (please read the page about using an USB key or an USB hard disk)
2. you can activate data persistence to make the system automatically save any modified data onto an external device

How can I minimize (or hide) an application window?

There is no area to host application icons (window list or task bar). If you have opened more than one application, you can do one of the following:

• press simultaneously the keys Alt + Tab to browse running applications
• use the mouse wheel while the mouse pointer is above the window title in order to “shade” the window, which then collapses
• use the small button on the left of the window title bar to “shade” the window

Where can I find the generated PDF files?

If you print a file using the PDF printer, the PDF file will be saved in the folder simply named PDF. It can be found in your home (personal) folder. Please note that we are talking about the folders hosted in DoudouLinux, not the folders hosted in the system installed on your computer… You can access PDF files using the file manager. We invite you to read the page about USB key or USB hard disk use in order to get information on finding and moving PDF files onto an USB key for example.

How to read or export drawings from other activities?

Since release 2011-02 it is possible to access the Tuxpaint drawings of other activities from any activity featuring a file manager. Please refer to article Using a USB key or a USB hard disk to learn how to open the file manager and save files to an USB key. Once the file manager is showing, just go to the directory “Pictures”. You will find sub-directories that contain the Tuxpaint drawings from other activities. These sub-directories are created when entering an activity and only if Tuxpaint has ever been launched in another activity. For example when you enter “Whole DoudouLinux”, DoudouLinux scans other activities and creates a sub-directory in “Whole DoudouLinux” only if it finds a Tuxpaint directory in these activities.

Security

Are parental controls available for Internet browsing?

Yes, since version 2010-11 we provide true web content filtering, see the page Parental controls. It has shown good results for French and Russian but it is known as alpha version for Romanian, Serbian and Ukrainian. We also plan to add controls for restricting hours of use, this is not related to Internet browsing of course!

As for instant messaging?

The instant messaging software provided, Empathy, is installed with just a local communication protocol. It is not able to join other users on the Internet. The objective is to teach children messaging communication tools on a local network, without the need to open accounts and above all while perfectly knowing to whom they are talking! For this you just need to connect at least two DoudouLinux with a network cable, via a networking box (hub or switch) or via a wireless network.

Is it possible to access local disks?

No, at least, this is not child’s play.

Is it possible to access local disk? - 2nd try

Indeed yes, but this requires manual operations with the file manager. However, you may not be able to access your data in read/write mode [2]. The access type depends on how data are managed by the system installed on your computer. If this is an old Windows®, both read and write modes should work. If this is a recent version of Windows®, only read mode should be allowed. Finally, if this is a Mac OS X®, access is not possible at all because the necessary tools are not installed in DoudouLinux. Please note that we do not recommend using local data because one of the main purpose of DoudouLinux is to let the computer and its data remain untouched —just for you to keep relaxed and worry free!

Can I install additional applications in DoudouLinux ?

Yes, DoudouLinux is just a special version of Debian Linux, so you can install any software package from among the nearly 25 000 packages available for this system! But to achieve this, the first time you will need to perform some manual and technical operations that are not explained in this documentation. If you really want to do this, you must have a working ADSL Internet connection [3]. Moreover, if you did not activate the system data persistence, your installation will be lost at computer shutdown. Please note that if you set this type of persistence, you will loose one of the DoudouLinux strengths: the impossibility to record altered data in the case of a system failure (due to hardware issue, due to a mistaken command or very unlikely due to a malware computer program [4]).

Can I read persistent data from within another system?

Yes in principle, but depending on your system this job can be very simple or nearly impossible… Saved data are indeed stored in a file that represents a hard disk image. This partition is created using a file system natively used by Linux, named ext2. To be able to read this partition, your system has to know how to mount a file as a storage device and, on the other hand, it has to know how to read the Linux file system. Obviously, neither Windows® or Mac OS X® natively knows how to read this file system. Finally concerning partition mounting, we do not know the answer for your system neither! [5]

Other questions

Can I install definitively DoudouLinux onto my computer?

Yes, please read the page named Install DoudouLinux definitively.

Why is the installation tool so difficult to find in DoudouLinux ?

The main reason is one of the objective of DoudouLinux: avoid damaging your computer data by mistake. This is why the installation tool in DoudouLinux is not easily accessible. This tool does not show in menus and cannot be accessed using the mouse only.

Can I install DoudouLinux definitively using the CDROM only?

Unfortunately no, not using CDROM only, you must have the version for USB key. The reason is that the CDROM structure is different from the structure of a hard disk [6]. Because DoudouLinux does not use the standard Linux installation procedure, but a raw copy of disk data, you need the USB key version. So if your computer cannot boot from an USB key, you can start your computer using the DoudouLinux CDROM then connect the USB key in order to install it definitively.

I downloaded the USB key version, how can I easily build an USB key without installing additional software?

If you do not know what to install, you still have one alternative: use the DoudouLinux CDROM in order to create an USB key using the downloaded USB image file… You must restart your computer with the DoudouLinux CDROM, then connect the USB key that you want to be written and start the USB key build tool. This operation is described on the page Creating a DoudouLinux USB key.