[Edu-sig] Now I went and did it!

[Kirby Urner]

I think the fact this'd be a demo on the Linux OS is pretty 
irrelevant here.  It's likely to confuse parents to make this 
into a big open source vs Microsoft thing, since Python runs 
fine on Microsoft, and few schools use Linux as a desktop (more 
as a backend server -- same in the workplace).

Speaking of schools and non-MSFT OSs, I just came back from 
my kid's school (public) where I successfully installed the 
following on an iMac (with permission for authorities):

(a) Python 2.0b1 (IDLE, minimal install)
(b) Povray (rendering engine) and 
(c) my own Python modules from my Oregon Curriculum Network 
    website (which use Python + Povray)[1]

(Note: although this was an Apple, using Mac OS, the 
web browser with IE 4.5 by MSFT -- worked fine).

I noticed a few things:  

(1) the Mac docs clearly state I shouldn't try to do any 
Tkinter programming from within IDLE.  Interesting.  Do 
the Windows docs say the same?  

Also: 

(2) it was quite easy to change the Python search path -- 
better setup than Windows for that

Finally:

When I imported my shapes module and set up an Icosahedron
to render itself, what I got didn't look much like an 
icosahedron.  Crumbs!  Apparently my own module has a 
bug in it I was unaware of -- gotta fix that tonight.

Kirby

[1] http://www.inetarena.com/~pdx4d/ocn/numeracy0.html

PS:  more numeracy + computer literacy stuff (featuring
Python) at the Math Forum recently.  I do too many posts
like this to always mention here, so I'll just stick with
wiring them to my website somewhere -- unless what I'm
doing seems really relevant to existing threads.  Anyway,
for what it's worth:

  http://mathforum.com/epigone/k12.ed.math/snolzhonthay

(Fermat's Test, plus in the 2nd post I get into that 
Sieve of Erastosthenes, which I got some help with here
on this list, from Ka-Ping Yee, John Posner and Tim Peters.