Where do all the Linux homework questions come from?

[hazel]

All the popular computer courses that I've ever heard of teach Windows, not Linux. Should we perhaps draw hope from the fact that so many young people seem to be learning about Linux at college (even if they do clog up the forum a bit)?

[MikeTbob]

I will say this Hazel, you are not the only one who is asking this question and I think it's a valid question. I just find it hard to believe that these same students can't find the answers on their own. (We're tring to keep the clogs to a minority)

[oz]

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I truly believe that most of those users that post them non-stop don't stand a chance in the real world of computers if they don't learn to use the various search tools that are available to them.

[elija]

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I truly believe that most of those users that post them non-stop don't stand a chance in the real world of computers if they don't learn to use the various search tools that are available to them.

It may be a question of experience. As more is learned about a subject, it becomes easier to ask appropriate questions of those tools.

[oz]

It may be a question of experience. As more is learned about a subject, it becomes easier to ask appropriate questions of those tools.

You are probably correct and for that reason, I think learning to use search tools should be the first thing taught in most computer courses.


quick edit: just wanted to add that I'm not talking about complex searches here but the most basic ones. Quite often, a homework question can be typed into a search engine and the answer revealed immediately, but if you don't know about search engines or how to use them, you are already at a disadvantage.

[hazel]

You haven't answered my question. How come there are suddenly so many people studying Linux at college? Maybe it's different in America but when I look at the annual bumf the local council provides about available evening courses, it's all Windows stuff - mostly MSOffice. Are things really changing out there?

[oz]

I've always figured that most of the Linux/Unix courses are happening at business schools and not at the major universities, but I'm not sure about it. Perhaps some of the students that appear here will chime in with some info about what's going on with Linux at the different scholastic levels, and where it's happening.

[MikeTbob]

I was getting the feeling that these are mostly "High school level" questions and not colleges, it'd be interesting to know where the majority of them come from.

[Lazydog]

OK you students with the homework questions, fess up! Where are you learning linux at?

[techieMoe]

I can't speak for everyone, but I took two UNIX programming classes in college as part of my degree plan for Computer Science. We ended up using Redhat machines for most of it, and since I had a Linux machine in my dorm it was easy enough to do my homework.

In fact, none of my programming classes in college required anything Microsoft-centric. A couple of the professors encouraged using Visual Studio, but the vast majority were console cowboys who made sure the assignments were all doable from a Linux command line.

This was about 7 years ago. Perhaps the curriculum has changed, perhaps not.