Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with this TAU course or with TAU. I brought this issue up because it interested me to see such a workshop existing, and because I know a student who's taking it and looking for a genuinely useful project to undertake.
That's why I considered my post somewhat offtopic. You're right - this workshop is probably not a bad thing overall - it may get some of the students interested in the real thing.
Linux is probably just a requirement so that the teacher could have a common language with the students and be able to check what the students did. It shouldn't matter because 95% of all free software (just an estimate I made up) works on Linux in addition to other systems. The amount of Windows-specific or FreeBSD-specific free software, or whatever, is not very large. Another bonus point for Linux (and again, I'm just making this up, I don't even know who the teacher of this workshop is) is that using it basically *forces* you to give thought to the free software issue. If you program on Windows, using a commercial compiler and a commercial editor and whatever, you don't see much free software and you don't get to think much about free software. This is just a generalization, of course, but it is still generally true ;)
Are we talking free or open source here? Also, I assume you know that ~commercial != open/free :-)
Sorry, done nitpicking now :-)
You can't teach the "spirit" of something. But you can demonstrate it, and hopefully some people will find that free software is indeed good and fun. What you said isn't specific to this workshop - according to what you said, graded courses are always bad and you can never end up loving a subject you learned got acquainted with in a graded course. I'm sure that most university professors will disagree with you on that.
That's not what I meant and I disagree - you can teach (and grade) the spirit of mathematics, computer science, physics, biology etc. etc.
A good project in one of the above fields is one that achieves some objective goals (proving a theorem, solving a problem).
A good project in open source is one that makes its developer happy about it - you can't (objectively) grade that.
Besides, who said free software is always written *just* for fun? There is many times other alterior motives, like fame or money, or in this case, a good grade.
True :-)
> Alexander Maryanovsky, a first year TAU student, btw :-)
Maybe you should join that workshop - it looks like you already have an idea for free software!
I'll probably fail on account of the the organizational requirements :-)
Alexander Maryanovsky.
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