On Fri, Jun 18, 2010 at 21:08, prakash srinivasan <[email protected]> wrote: > > Minimum expertise skillset should be required to do all the above stuffs. But > still the content is confusing the target audience. So the final target will > not be like Linux application development or Linux kernel programming or what > else. >
The 'target audience' here are budding Computer Scientists and Engineers, who *must* know the innards of the various software described in the core courses, such as Operating Systems, Compilers, Databases, etc. In order to know that, you must know how to work in a DBMS and how operating systems and compilers work. Knowledge of how a software works cannot be attained for proprietary solutions, but free and open source software makes it possible. The text for Operating Systems has a few interesting case studies which no one studies (it is out of the syllabus, not an important question are the reasons oft supplied). I had an interest in Operating Systems and read some code from Minix as I knew Linux was too complex. (Code reading is quite an interesting journey in itself.) I didn't complete it for want of knowledge about assembly language. The curriculum for the Compiler Design lab is pretty good for an undergraduate course, but most colleges supply the programs to students, as Yuvi had remarked. However the curriculum for the operating systems lab was measly, with basic shell commands occupying one fourth of the syllabus. The only programs we actually coded were the scheduling algorithms and a single memory management program. This lab seriously needs a revamp. I prefer not to rant on, but the abysmal standards of the practical courses in CSE don't give students the practice they ought to have before becoming scientists and engineers. But the sad state of affairs in our current system produces more people who can do what one says, but can't think of their own. Of course, this is a majority and doesn't include all CSE students. The major problem with the current system is that the curriculum aims for a lowest common denominator of skills, and doesn't allow for diversification even in the last few semesters. Colleges elect the electives, rather than the students. > This kind of syllabus will create more panic for target audience about Linux > instead of promoting FOSS/GNU Linux. I don't think the mission of this course is to promote FOSS. It is rather to provide students with skills that they can use in real life projects. -- Salvadesswaran Srinivasan Chennai _______________________________________________ ILUGC Mailing List: http://www.ae.iitm.ac.in/mailman/listinfo/ilugc
