I have always been interested in computers, and would find myself hanging out with the Computer Science students instead of the Aviation Management or Business Management students I was a part of. At home and at work I have been largely self-teaching myself using computers starting with Excel and Access with VBA through ASP and SQL at work. Thankfully my current employer values education, and so I have been taking classes and not only learning the technology, but un-learning what I have been doing wrong over the years. At home, though, I have been teaching myself Linux, system administration, networking and the overall method of migrating our system from Windows to Linux. I am involved in the Danbury Area Computer Society (DACS.org) I have the opportunity to take what I've learned the hard way and hopefully help others.. I have been enjoying Open Source for a while now, and I am hoping to get a better understanding of the entire model and application.
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I thought this was going to be a run-down on differences between Desktop Environments.
Having the choice of Desktop Environments is a great asset to Linux because it also does not limit you on applications you run either. If there is a Gnome application you like, you can use it in KDE (though KDE probably has a great similar application that will do it and look like it fits in).
And the wonderful thing is that in many cases the distribution provides multiple desktops to choose from. Either it comes included in an installation DVD (Fedora, openSUSE, etc.) or different distributions with the same undercarriage (Ubuntu/Unity, Kubuntu/KDE, Xubntu/Xfce, Lubuntu/LXDE and Ubuntu Gnome/Gnome).
This mix-and-match capabilities give anybody a dizzying array of conbinations even before you add that each desktop environments enjoys a variety of customization options that just isn't available in the proprietary options (KDE Plastma Netbook, Xfce could run 100% with no panels or buttons on the desktop, etc.)
I don't know of any sane parent expecting anything BUT the random stabbing of a keyboard by a one year old! ;)
There is a program, however, that detects some random keys being hit on a keyboard and locks the keyboard for a moment. The concept behind this is when a cat walks across the keyboard (or lays down on it).
Now, a child and a touchscreen device like a tablet, I have heard, is more effective and I can believe it. That provides easy interaction that is more focused on the colors and shapes than it is of letters and their order.