Use of Linux in Canadian universities

Alyssa Knox nylffn at gmail.com
Fri Sep 8 15:47:09 UTC 2006


It's not that they're (or rather "we're" =)  dumb, and yes, chances
are the ones who don't know Windows or Macs could learn Linux from the
ground-up, too. But given that people who are already comfortable
using Linux when they get to uni are relatively rare, it would mean
that not only the users who are new to computers in general would need
to be taught, but absolutely EVERYONE. For a part of the university
that does not have teaching as its primary mission, but rather
providing a resource for students to use to get their work done, I
think it would be crippling to have to educate 90% of users from the
ground-up.

That doesn't even cover courses that use specific apps, like
Dreamweaver or specialised archaeology or linguistic programs. Sure,
these things could havebeen created for Linux, but as things are now,
they weren't... and student computer labs need to offer them. I think
it is necessary for universities to follow the industry standard, and
alas, for the moment that is the 'doze.

I'm an English student, so I'm not sure if computer science or
engineering or math or what have you departments have Linux labs
tucked away somewhere. I wouldn't be at all surprised.

Alyssa

On 9/8/06, ubuntu-ca-request at lists.ubuntu.com
<ubuntu-ca-request at lists.ubuntu.com> wrote:

> Hmm,
>
> What has happened to the students?, I did my stats assignments on a mainframe. When I did my thesis on unix, wow, I thought it was the greatest.
> But seriously are students actually dumber? I don't think so. It takes all of us time to learn something new. And if windows or Mac OS is new it takes time to learn that. I really don't see how that makes linux harder.  If linux is new it will take students time to learn it, too. Anyway it is the University's job to teach.
>
> Cheers
> Tim




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