[ale] Linux "course" at GT?

J. Reeves Hall reeves at earthling.net
Thu Sep 9 11:36:17 EDT 1999


>         The problem, I think, with not having more people run Linux is a
> simple one of resources. A lot of students like the idea of running Linux
> for whatever reason, but, when it comes to the idea of writing one's paper
> in something other than Word, losing the ability to surf for MP3's on the
> network neighborhood, or play the latest cracked network games, then the
> tables turn. For most "newbie" folks I've seen who have installed Linux,
> Linux is used primarily as a fancy telnet client. It usually stays on
> their (dual boot) machine for about a month (or however long it takes them
> ti fill up the rest of their '98 disk partition[s]).

I just FTP my MP3's (the legal ones, of course :) from a friend's FreeBSD
server.
Problem solved. Also, browse.resnet provides a pretty nice way around the
problem.
 I'm currently losing a battle with the CS department about doing a paper in
StarOffice
versus Word, so I'll probably just do it at the NT cluster. As for games, it's
a 1 minute
reboot into Windows. Linuxquake3 is extremely good, and Win98 can't even use my

dual CPU configuration, while Linux can. Therefore the games that do run in
Linux
are much faster. I've tried Win2k Server, which has multi-CPU support, but no
support
for my 3Dfx card (plus it runs like a drunken hog).

I'm not the only Linux junkie on this floor, and I've already convinced yet
another person
to ditch Win98 (due to instability).

Having helped at least one other person make the Linux jump, I think the
problem is not in the installation, but in the learning curve. Faced with a
bash prompt, even a colorful one, newbies don't know where to start. That's
where a class could be helpful. IMHO Unix makes more sense than Windows, but it
can appear very random and idiosyncratic to a newbie.

>         However, where I *have* seen Linux survive amongst newbies, is
> when there is a definate need for it. Perhaps the greatest need which I've
> observed amongst, at least CS students, has been the need for a fast
> compile environment. Classes like the old CS2430, were great for Linux, as
> we were always writing little C programs, or having to look up man pages.

Scheme under Linux is also quite good. You don't even have to worry about CRLF
translation when you FTP it to acme :)

>         This is where you, a professor, can make a difference. Make your
> class more "Linux Friendly". Post all of your homeworks in postscript or
> pdf on your web page. Perhaps more importantly, don't give assignments
> which require the use of a Windows program to complete! For papers, insist

YES! Or at least it would be nice to tolerate the submission of the slightly
different
formatting characteristics of StarOffice/WordPerfect. (this is what I'm
currently arguing
about on git.class.cs1301x.questions)

-Reeves

--
In a world without fences, why do we need Gates?
J. Reeves Hall - Georgia Tech (CS Major)
[overcode at resnet.gatech.edu]






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