Perceptions of the Linux OS Among Undergraduate System Administrators

[Jimen Ching]

On 18 Dec 2001, Dusty wrote:
>Is this the kind of student UH and HPU are putting out?

I forget where I heard this, but the following qoute seems to make a lot
of sense.

	The quality of the guaduating student depends on the quality
	of the teachers.

At UH, I had taken courses from professors that should not be teaching.
And the weird thing was, these professors were tenured.  Matter of fact,
some professors are so infamous for their easy courses, that students
began taking those courses just to raise their GPA.  You learn nothing,
but you improve your resume.  ;-)

Regarding CLI, it is my observation that a user who started using
computers on a CLI tend to return to it if they truly learned the power of
the CLI.  It is very hard to give up that power for 'ease of use'.  But,
if this user did not find the power in the CLI, they are not likely to go
back to it after switching to a GUI environment.  And if the user did not
start using computers with a CLI?  Forget about it.  It doesn't matter how
powerful you think a CLI is, no one who started with a GUI will ever
switch to a CLI.

Regarding the reliability of Windows.  I don't think it is limited to
Windows.  I think most computer users have come to expect poor quality
software.  It just so happens that there are a lot more Windows software
than any other software.  And as long as new generations of IT and ICS
graduates believe this is 'normal', the longer this 'normal' situation
will continue.  We have to face facts.  We are all dependent on Outlook
and Microsoft Office.  If these two softwares crashed every two hours,
would any of you switch to something else?  Aside from the fact that there
is nothing else, who is willing to learn a new interface?

Every once in a while, I read an article from some editor or someone,
complaining about the poor state of software.  And yet, they continue to
use it and buy new versions of that same software.  As long as users are
willing to use poor quality software, poor quality software will be
produced for them.

--jc
--
Jimen Ching (WH6BRR)      jching at flex.com     wh6brr at uhm.ampr.org