Prism launcher works well on Linux and helps with keeping multiple versions of the game & multiple modpacks to keep stuff organized.

As for modding itself, it would need an IDE and build system, along with a bit of prep and research...

I think the programming game is definitely the way to go at first.

Though, knowing that modding is a possibility they can persue on their own in the future would still be good. Or maybe remind them of that once they gain some proficiency with the basic concepts.

I'm completely with you

But I'm absolutely no familiar with modding since a long time and have no clue, if there would be many tutorials for Linux or if everything runs

I think Roblox e.g. doesn't run on Linux?

Minecraft was just possible with a different launcher, iirc.

I don't want to spend a day just setting up his environment - well, I do, but mostly for getting his system right. Getting stuck in something, that just maybe doesn't work in his environment is frustrating.

I went to a technical school and programmed micro controllers to make a running light or blinking Christmas trees
But that's just far too much, when he is only here for a week.

Here we call that "schnuppern".
Pretty much means sniffing, you just get the first taste of something.
Means, it should be a good experience.

So... Although I do like the idea, especially with Minecraft modding, I'm not sure if it's easily applicable

So currently I tend to the recommendation with the game "the farmer was replaced"
Reminds me of a challenge we had in our first week at the university, to just give an insight on logic and algorithmic thinking.
And as long as it works with Proton, it should just work and seems to step up the complexity, but still "gamecifact-ed"

I'll try to have a look at Minecraft modding, because maybe that's still cool - although he quit playing half a year ago or so - but I'll need to verify, that it works.
And sadly the planned week is months earlier than expected - I'm having 3 weeks and at least one of them I'll be on a business trip.

So, I need to keep it simple (read: just works) - and entertaining

Thank you for the evidence provided. I'll take it under advisement.

Which Western country’s democracy is being subverted by China ...?

The Chinese party-state aims to subvert all countries, may they be democracies or not.

Edit: others suggested programming games; those are also a great start that satisfies the two big requirements I mention.

If he plays any single player games, i'd probably start there. Modding. Especially if Minecraft or Roblox or Rimworld and the like.

I've taught a lot of people low level C and C++ over the years. Two of the most important things for beginners is getting feedback (what I call "blinky lights") and a reason to persist when learning gets hard. Creating a mod or cheats for a game can be great at fulfilling both of those requirements. You get to see a more tangible result of your work than a CLI print, and you have goals or a vision you're chasing. This is one reason why webdev is so accessible; the issue there is learning multiple languages and frameworks all at the same time which can be difficult if unguided.

My circles tend to all be low-level systems people, may be different in others; but all of the best programmers I know started with hacking on or making games or things for games. The desire to understand, to know more, to create; that pushed all of them. Getting to see the beating heart —the code describing the game mechanics you've used for hours— for the first time, can be a magical experience; so things with open APIs or unity games where the code is relatively accessible, are quite good.

I think this guide is pretty good: https://google.github.io/eng-practices/review/reviewer/

It's a broad topic.

Be mindful of how you communicate. Differentiate between questions, risks, wrongs, subjective. Talk with your teammates. Establish a common understanding of deliberate word use or forms, intentions, and necessities to answer or change or not.

Consider whether passive and non-aggressive communication is the best approach. Some people may not pick up on defensive tone and just not care. Maybe they need more direct and pushy speech and discussions where you point stuff out, including the overall approach to working together and your assumptions or expectations.

Be mindful of sharing alternative approaches or knowledge vs not commenting to reduce own time investment and number of comments. Discuss with your team where the sweet spot is. This may change over time and is different with different people, their experience in general and in the project.

Make it clear that the one submitting the code is the owner and person responsible. They have to take ownership.

If necessary, establish a common understanding of where to commit time investment. Usually it's much preferable for the author to invest time into a well documented submission over a reviewer trying to understand and find things out through analysis and questions.

Try to find a common understanding of not just the solution but what the authors understanding and intentions, what edges and alternatives did they consider, what risks or decision basis did they use.

Establish understanding on what your role as reviewer is. Risk reduction? Common standardized solutions and code? Are you lead and give long term direction, including how things are implemented to reduce long term complexity and variance? Do you teach through reviews?

If necessary or unclear, ask what or how deep you are being asked to review. Depending on the author expertise and trustworthyness and your load, sometimes merely approving a concept and a broad peek into the most risky parts or what you want to see the approach on may be enough. Sometimes they may be confident and just want approval on the concept, not every code change.

Be mindful of when to not post comments but ask for a shared screen meeting and talk for them to walk you through or explain things. The author should also be mindful of when they think discussion before asynchronous written review makes sense.

Consider whether you are always the one who should review. At all, or first. Maybe someone else can. Maybe you can do a second review pass, maybe only on remaining open questions.

Uh, that sounds pretty cool

Thank you!

Edit: ok, had a first look, but I think, this is a winner
Thank you very much, that seems to be absolutely perfect!

I second this. One of the advantages is it'll give him immediate visual feedback on the changes he makes

who is brian hood

Depending on the context, Brian Hood most commonly refers to one of two notable figures: […]

It tells me about two Brian Hoods. I assume one of them is the supposed denied one?

Or it is selective about what information it gives about them.

That appeal has ended in a settlement.

The fines, if even paid, were probably less than the settlement. That being said, the best case would have been going to court for precedence, but you can't blame someone for cashing out if they've been a victim.

I can recommend a game called "The Farmer was Replaced". It's a game about controlling a drone over a field via python scripts. You can use an in-game editor or you can use a third-party editor. Personally, I quite enjoy the game for playfully interacting with coding.

Thank you!

Somehow the name is familiar, but will need to check it out

Sending Godot recommendation

Ok, I'll need to look into that, thanks :⁠-⁠)

I understand you idea, but I'm afraid JS could teach some weird behaviour and also isn't easy to debug sometimes

At least I didn't like my time with it, because it has so many quirks.

But for a quick hack of something, maybe

Although I'm more inclined with python, when it comes to scripting languages

Maybe I'll also make a basic Linux course with a bit of command piping and simple bash scripts

Yeah, that's why I check the options

At least he came to me to ask, if he could make this school-work thingie at my place, because he thinks, it helps him to know more about computers.

But I'll need to start with the real basics about... everything

Depends on what he likes to play, but PICO-8 can be easy and fun for simple 2D stuff.

It's been a couple of years since I used it, but I recall making a platformer without too much trouble (tho, I was loosely following a tutorial)

Review to understand, not necessarily to find problems. If you do find bugs and anti-patterns along the way, great, ask about them. But consider it your goal to learn what they did, why they did it this way.

When you're giving feedback, phrase things as questions most of the time. Idk about you, but I'm rarely so sure of myself. If you're saying stuff like "Would it work better if we tried xyz?" instead of "Change this to do xyz.", people respond better. Sometimes it starts a discussion, sometimes you learn they had a good reason for what they did in the first place.

It'll be really tempting to skim and just give it a quick Looks Good To Me. Try not to.

Godot has a series of tutorials focused at kids looking to make their first game. should check that out. Godot is really easy to use.

Or you could go the route that many of us did way back in the day with geocities and set up a neocities account and learn the basics of HTML. they can set up their own little website for whatever their passion is. HTML, IMHO, is a great introduction to coding.

Honestly, I hate JavaScript, but I like JavaScript for this. You don't need a compiler and every computer has an interpreter for it. You could make a baseline thing and let him tinker. It comes with excellent developer tools with breakpoints, stepping, live editing. It's literally the least you have to do to make working interactive code.

Or another option is there was Robocode — a tank game where you program an autonomous robot to win a battle royale. Or there is Screeps — a StarCraft like game where you write code for different buildings and units and attempt to conquer the land.

I like the idea of code-as-gameplay. You get to play while being pushed to write more sophisticated code in order to do better.

Just in case don't force anything, it could be he isn't interested. That curiosity should be on him, but sometimes you have to throw reeses on the floor to attract the ET.

My son is also into gaming and started with a juvinile course creating roblox games. Say what you want about Roblox (you are right) but it is a fantastic introduction to basic development in a game environment (remember, reeses) Two years later, now at 14, he started a python course and comes every Thursday excited to show me what he learnt.

My daughter on the other hand, will throw up just thinking about it xD

Python might be a good start, especially the trial and error runs with python are rather nice (no need to wait to compile a binary)
I'll need to look into some examples.

I like the idea, because it would actually be "real programming" and he should be old enough for that

I just don't want to frustrate his early steps too much.
Challenge is ok, but it should also bring some cheap wins as well

Never heard of that
Thanks, will check it out

Well, that would actually sound fun ;⁠-⁠)

Yeah, scratch rings a bell

I think, I even installed it on his laptop as I set it up

Maybe that's a good starting point, thanks