[clug] Linux in education

[Michael Still]

steve jenkin wrote:
> Michael Still wrote on 4/10/07 10:19 AM:
>> The role of higher education is to... educate. Not make people
>> comfortable. The fact that undergrads are uncomfortable when exposed
>> to new things is more an indicator that they really need that exposure
>> than anything else.

[snip]

> And none of the Academics I talked to thought it was a problem...
> Like CSE @ UC: "we do Windows, get with it"

The CSE program at UC was based on a perception of industry need, and
used to have a good reputation. Ultimately though it failed, and the
entire program was scrapped. Its interesting to note that many of the
better academics are now at ANU.

I think the lesson there is that industry needs change, and that good
employers are looking for a solid grounding in fundamentals -- not
something as unimportant as how the windowing system looks, especially
from new graduates.

So, why is Unix a better teaching platform then? Because it exposes
those fundamentals -- you can poke the kernel, or have to use a command
line, or swap window managers in and out as needed to demonstrate a point.

Mikal