Re: Linux +

[Rik Tindall]

8:59 AM 4/10/2002 - Reply to CLUG List: Kia ora all,   As a student on the Avonmore Linux+ course, may I proffer the following answer to Dave's 30/9/2 query, having given our tutor due moment to first respond.   It is a rewarding & positive course in many ways, but perhaps could benefit from a little critique. Yes, we are working towards the CompTIA Linux+ exam, which will add $500 to the $1400 course fee & can be taken onsite @ any time negotiated with Avonmore, or @ any other accredited testing agency.   To start with a +, Avonmore cannot be faulted for the freedom they are allowing us to mould the course we need. We have good facilities & access, in terms of a bright & open working environment with overhead SVGA projection & large desks. The machines might be underpowered though @ P3-450, & the network flux earlier added unnecessary complexity. Currently we have FTP blocked - to prevent abuse of the fast internet access (30kbps downloads were typical) - except through staff. Module & program updates are thus made difficult, though web access is excellent.   The fundamental flaw in the course is the same as CLUG encounters in its presentations (like all teaching presumably), where experience level is uneven: should the material be pitched @ newbies or @ higher training?   Avonmore have turned out a first rate course guide, if only it could be followed. Written for a 300 hour, from-scratch framework, we have just 160 hours to cover areas narrow enough to still be achieveable: installation, configuration, networking & server, with strong emphasis on CLI & Vi. The course guide has been cast aside, however, though out-of-class reading of the Sybex CompTIA "Linux+ Study Guide" (Rod.W Smith, 2001) text will have students test-ready if completed, it appears. Parallel references to both the Rute Manual & Smith are provided for each topic in the course guide.   There are students, like myself, who took this course as a Linux beginners entry point, & may be disappointed at the accelerated pace. Advertised as (computer) 'industry experience expected', this is currently being misinterpreted as 'Linux experience expected' - a subtle but critical difference for newbies to best learn. The immersion is likely to beneficial, so long as iteration of detail is not forgotten.   The problem is, the natural instinct of *nix gurus is not to teach!   This stems from the 'hunch-over-keyboard-to-hide-password-from-Black-Hats' attitude required by good security (i.e. the -ve wider social context is distorting & inhibiting information flow). Instead, *nix gurus tend to default to top-level, guru-to-guru exchange (from which they personally can learn something & benefit), wherever it is in the room. *Nix gurus can seem to make terrible teachers, because of this great inclination to hive off onto their own topics of interest. They can seem completely incapable of heeding where beginners are at.   That said, the Avonmore Linux+ course has plenty of promise. Each & every session is extremely valuable to attend, though packed with the stress derived from Linux's trademark anarchism. Linux+ will be attained - by this student at least - not because of the way this course is being run, but in spite of it. :^)- Thanks Avonmore for making it possible.   Yours etc.   Rik ----- Original Message ----- From: Dave To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, September 30, 2002 8:10 PM Subject: Linux + Interested to know how the Linux + course is going at Avonmore, is it any good? Is the content worth the fee, Does it cover all things worthy? Is it based on the CompTIA Linux + exam? Etc etc,   Cheers Dave.