[clug] Linux in education

Randall Crook rcrook at vtown.com.au
Thu Oct 4 07:28:10 GMT 2007


Alex Satrapa wrote:
> On 04/10/2007, at 14:10 , Michael Still wrote:
>
>> 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.
>
> Not to mention the fact that every time you ask, "why does Unix do it
> this way?" you end up learning something from Unix's 37 years of
> experience in the real world.
>
> I can't help but wonder whether people who use Windows have been
> trained to not ask questions.
>
> Alex
>
> --linux mailing list
> linux at lists.samba.org
> https://lists.samba.org/mailman/listinfo/linux
>
Its interesting that after 20+ years in the IT industry working on
pretty much all the OS platforms from CPM to DOS to Unix to Windows to
VMS, I have seen some very scary things coming out of high schools,
TAFEs and universities.

The best trainee I ever worked with was straight out of high school
doing an IT course at Bruce. She went out of her way in the last 2 years
of high school to start learning Linux and BSD. The school of course
only had Windows and the IT teachers were found very lacking when she
went to them with *nix questions. Fortunately there were a few of her
friends who helped her out. She did really well the two years she was in
my section ...

In opposition to that experience, I have had to work with a number of
people fresh from TAFe and uni who quite frankly still didn't know the
basics after 4 years of a degree or diploma. And don't even mention the
MCSEs who strut around making complete fools of themselves over things
as simple as a "Default Route"....

All in all its seems education lags considerably behind real world
requirements. The mention of a variety of platforms is a good idea. Even
in the job I am in right now I use skills in Windows, Solaris, AIX and
Linux. And as you will all know there can be vast differences in just
the *nix's.

I have given my girls laptops with both Windows and Kubuntu installed...
the reason is they can get used to both platforms. Yes its windows at
school, but they mostly use linux at home because I have drilled into
them that linux is safer when it comes to the net..

I wish I could see an improvement in the IT curriculum at all levels of
education, purely to give the students a better understanding of what
they will encounter in their careers.

My $0.02 worth...


Randall Crook.


More information about the linux mailing list