Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!algor2!jeffrey
From: jeffrey@algor2.UUCP (Jeffrey Kegler)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: Wanted a  syllabus Unix for science students
Keywords: wanted syllabus Unix
Message-ID: <459@algor2.UUCP>
Date: 23 Jun 89 05:02:06 GMT
References: <2360@botter.cs.vu.nl> <7686@bsu-cs.bsu.edu>
Reply-To: jeffrey@algor2.UUCP (Jeffrey Kegler)
Organization: Algorists, Inc., Reston VA
Lines: 30

In article <7686@bsu-cs.bsu.edu> dhesi@bsu-cs.bsu.edu (Rahul Dhesi) writes:
>In article <2360@botter.cs.vu.nl> wallagh@cs.vu.nl writes:
>>At the University of Amsterdam the computer science students have to
>>learn Unix in their second year.
>
>Learning about one specific operating system has been out of style for
>some years in true computer science programs.  Teach them about
>operating systems in general, and include ideas not only from UNIX but
>from other operating systems as well.

I am no longer close enough to academia to know whether the "issues"
approach or the "case study" approach is more in fashion, but must say that
I completely disagree with Rahul about their respective merits.

My own operating systems courses were "issues" courses.  I do not believe
that students (or anyone) can really understand the tradeoffs involved in
these operating system issues, unless they know at least one operating
system thoroughly.  I feel my own real understanding of operating systems
came from learning UNIX, not from the survey of scheduling algorithms, etc.
I had in school.

So, Amsterdam, by all means teach them operating systems by teaching them
UNIX.  For advanced courses, teach them more UNIX.  For the very advanced
courses, give them a survey of scheduling, disk allocation, etc., once
the students can really understand what you are talking about.
-- 

Jeffrey Kegler, President, Algorists,
jeffrey@algor2.UU.NET or uunet!algor2!jeffrey
1762 Wainwright DR, Reston VA 22090