Linux at Bryan College

[DCT Jared Smith]

Pete Manglaviti:

To your question about Linux curriculum: I think it would be really fruitful for this whole topic 
to be discussed in the open. It is a thread which has come up before, developing a core curriculum 
which the KCLUG could endorse and even support.

A few notes. I believe the very idea of 'key member' is invalidated by the nature of Linux, in that 
anyone who puts effort in becomes a key member. Follow my reasoning here:

<Newbies> are perhaps the most important segment of the Linux population: they keep the sysadmins 
on their toes by asking RELEVANT questions which is the grace that keeps the sysadmin from building 
too obscure a system. [from newbies you learn what people want from Linux]

<Regular users> provide the stress-testing and good reason for security issues to be resolved 
quickly. [from regular users you learn the strengths of Linux vs. other OSes]

<Sysadmins or Folks-who-regularly-recompile> might know a lot about configuring and running Linux, 
yet have by the nature of their knowledge gotten a certain bias which must be balanced by awareness 
of their newbies. [from compilers you learn what elements of Linux should be covered to make your 
class comprehensive]

<Open-Source Documenters and Evangelists> must sew all this together into a concise and useful 
format, so that everyone communicates, and enthusiasm remains high (recently finding the lyrics for 
"You say potato, I say potahto" while researching ADODB and thereby resolving a difficult debate 
with my wife, I realized why I enjoy Open Source documentation so much more than "this page left 
intentionally blank" documentation...) [from documenters you learn the art of restrained enthusiasm 
regarding Linux]

It takes a village? Naw, it takes a whole nation.

-Jared

>>>----------------------------------------------------------------
Hello,

My name is Pete Manglaviti and I'm the Director of Technology at Bryan College in Springfield, MO.  
We're a career college that focuses on 3 key areas:

Network Administration
Programming
Business Administration

We're looking into adding 2 more Linux classes to our curriculum (which would take effect on Oct 1, 
2002). Currently, we teach classes ranging from Novell 5 to Windows 2000.  I'd like to know if I 
could possibly meet some of your key members and possibly get some feedback on what are some of the 
fundamental concepts a student should have in Linux before graduating.  

Thank you for your time,

Pete Manglaviti