[ubuntu-uk] Could Linux (and Ubuntu) do more to encourage students?

[Andy]

Hi all.

I just got an email from the Microsoft Marketing department, well
technically the sender was my University and it wasn't from the
marketing guys, or at least they don't call them selves that.

I am not entirely sure why my University is forwarding me junk mail
from Microsoft, I don't remember asking for it.

Anyway onto the fruit of the matter.
It was from the "Developer and Platform Evangelist Group".

It was about a competition called the "Imagine Cup", where you could
win $25,000.

Now you might think it is nice of Microsoft to be running such a
competition, I being a cynic have to wonder why they are running the
competition.
And I need not wonder for long, they reason is clear on these 2 URLs:
<http://imaginecup.com/Competition/SoftwareDesign.aspx>
<http://imaginecup.com/Competition/ProjectHoshimi.aspx>

Both require the use of .NET, and the software design requires the use
of Visual Studio.

I find it odd that my University mailed this, seems as they don't
lecture anything about .NET, and the CS department machines run Red
Hat Enterprise Linux.

It appears Microsoft are trying to buy off the young coders. Why is
Canonical, Red Hat and other Linux vendors not doing similar things?
If this works we will have no programmers for Linux, and we have few
enough Linux users as it is!

It would be happy to get an email from my University about a
programming competition based on Linux. And yet all I get is Pro-MS
stuff, using technology that the University doesn't even teach.

Incidentally we are taught C, and also Java, anyone else thinking that
Canonical and Sun should get together.

Oh well rant over. back to more important thinks (like trying to pass
my degree, you actually have to do work for them, I wish someone had
warned me about that ;))

_ Andy