[mdlug] how would you teach a class?

[Ingles, Raymond]

> From: Garry Stahl

> No, start off on how to make the computer work.

 And as everyone's pointed out, you need to know what the *students*
want to do with the computer. What do they consider "working"?

 For example, for an intro class for people who will not be developing,
you'll need to cover a lot of concepts. The most salient point *for a
user* is that Linux is a *group* effort, not controlled by a particular
company. It's not just an OS but a whole *ecosystem*. A whole lot of the
'quirks' of Linux become comprehensible once someone understands that.

 I mean, the concept of a 'distribution' flows from that - a bunch of
people (maybe even a company) assemble a bunch of software and tools
together, resolving dependencies and such. (Speaking of dependencies,
point out all the DLLs that Windows apps need to include and install
just to run, and the "DLL Hell" that arises. Contrast that with the
Linux model.) The service they offer is packaging up software for you.
So, instead of going out on the net looking for a tool or going to the
store to buy one, you usually have it available in the package manager.
You almost never need to go download a utility from some random website
and install it, because you almost certainly already *have* it.

 Go ahead and point out the disadvantages of this approach at this point
- almost all of which are legal disadvantages, not technical ones.
Patents & firmware, which leads to the codec issue and the wifi issue -
but point out that they can be worked around with just a couple extra
hoops to jump through. The other issue is hardware support - be up front
that not everything works. However, in my experience the vast majority
of hardware works, and standard schemes and protocols like USB have
improved things greatly. Then there's binary drivers like Nvidia and
ATI.

 Once they understand *that*, then you can start going over some of the
design and technical features of Linux.

 Sincerely,

 Ray Ingles                                             (313) 227-2317

 "Suffering is good for the soul, but it is usually best to wait until
      the body has no choice in the matter." - Stephen Donaldson
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