G. Matthew Rice wrote:

> Any and all feedback, comments and questions are welcome.

First of all, congratulations on getting this (almost) done. The objectives 
list looks good to me. There are only a few remarks I'd like to make.

Objective 1.2.5 (Networking Your Computer) stands out because it (together 
with the one on creating users) is the only one that actually requires »root« 
permissions. It seems to me that the scope of this objective exceeds pretty 
much all of the rest of the exam. In actual practice, what is required to get 
a Linux computer on a LAN is to stick the CAT cable into the Ethernet port – 
people will very likely either run a home router with a nicely preconfigured 
DHCP server, or an enterprise-type networking infrastructure, also with a 
nicely preconfigured DHCP server. If this is not the case, then there will be 
some friendly family or IT staff member who got the network running in the 
first place and should be able to help out. In my opinion it makes no sense to 
require the MQC to know about »netstat« and »/etc/resolv.conf« (which is 
incidentally misspelt in the objective) while at the same time stipulating 
that, e.g., »vi« is too difficult for them and they must answer questions on 
»pico«. I think that, if anything, this objective should be downgraded to a 
»know your options« objective that, say, requires people to know the 
difference between a LAN and a WLAN, along the lines of objectives 1.1.2 or 
1.2.3.

In the same vein, I would leave out objective 1.5.2 (Creating Users and 
Groups), just to remove the dependency on »root«. Again, casual users will 
most probably use the graphical tools that their Linux distribution offers for 
this if at all.

Instead, what I'd like to see in the exam is a simple introduction to the idea 
of pipelines, based on programs like »grep« (which is already in the exam) and 
possibly simple applications of »sort«, »cut«, and »wc«. Pipelines are a 
central concept of Unix (and Linux). They are responsible for much of the 
expressive power of the shell and arguably of much more practical use to a 
Linux beginner than knowing how to add users and groups (which in many 
circumstances they won't get to do anyway). Junking objective 1.5.2 would free 
2 weight points for a pipelines objective. Failing that, is there a rationale 
for deliberately leaving the topic out?

Anselm
(my personal opinion, as usual)
-- 
Anselm Lingnau ... Linup Front GmbH ... Linux-, Open-Source- & Netz-Schulungen
[email protected], +49(0)6151-9067-103, Fax -299, www.linupfront.de
Linup Front GmbH, Postfach 100121, 64201 Darmstadt, Germany
Sitz: Weiterstadt (AG Darmstadt, HRB7705), Geschäftsführer: Oliver Michel
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