[clug] Education options

[Mark Harrison]

Hi,

I was hoping there might be some people on this list who can give me
some advice on how to get started in software development without being
trapped in Windows.

I am looking at doing a basic software development course. I'd like to
do something that won't take more than a year and gives me a pretty good
chance of finding work on the other side. If anyone has any advice or
comments I'd love to hear them. From what I gather, so long as I avoid
VB/Access stuff, then anything I learn should be usable outside of
Windows. Am I on the right track there?

The course options so far seem to be:
a) Spherion (Advanced diploma of business systems)
b) TAFE (Diploma in IT - software development)
c) UC (Graduate Diploma in IT - software engineering)

So, are there other options that I have missed? (ANU's graduate diploma
requires more maths than I have.) Or, does anyone have any advice on the
above three options?

Thanks,
Mark.