In the meantime i am learning my 12 year old one how to install a debian server. Install postgresql and some scripting languages. Then we proceed to make a simple website with a simple backend.
There is so much more joy into learning stuff from this level.
I wouldn't be against taking the next step to understanding and using Docker, then docker-compose for such a thing. One can get a lot of use out of a system this way.
You could branch out in a lot of directions from here. Compiling from source is another option, or messing around with config files. Depends on where you want to go in the education.
Docker is still helpful even when you want to compile for source. Something that's simple with containers but maddening on bare metal is build or runtime configs where different versions of packed/libraries are required. A container lets you have a super customized build environment for a single application that can spit out a binary that'll run on bare metal but might otherwise pollute the machine's build config.
Some languages make building harder than others but containers can obviate a lot of that difficulty even if the runtime target is bare metal.
If it's not easier what's the point? I could set up a chroot and do a bunch of scripting and debugging to isolate build environments or just write a dozen line Dockerfile. My time is valuable so the Dockerfile is effective and incredibly easy.
If I'd tried to start my kids on how to install software on an operating system, and how to write bash and SQL, they would have lost interest instantaneously.
I found the gateway drug was a robot that could do simple things, then modifying the code to make it do different things.
