On Fri, 20 Jan 2006 11:29:29 -0700 Andrew McNabb <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > On Fri, Jan 20, 2006 at 10:55:19AM -0700, David D Turley wrote: > > Sorry to jump in on this, but being away from campus for over 12 > years I > > had some ideas... > > When I mentioned freshmen and sophomores who are really > enthusiastic, I > was thinking of people that are already familiar with Linux. > Certainly, > many of the best members of the UUG became acquainted with Linux > while > at school (either through coursework or through the UUG). But if > we > aren't even getting the people who when coming to school are > already > excited about Linux, then there's a serious problem. I would > imagine > that an increasing number of students arrive with a familiarity > with > Linux, and even when I was a freshman there were two or three people > on > my floor in the dorms who used Linux extensively.
But are these people familiar with Linux all CS majors? Some may be in IT, some EE, and some business majors. You (unfortunately) need to get away from it being a "CS" club. "Back in the day..." when I was a CS major at the Y, you had the Computer programmers (CS, EE - Read "Uber Geek") and the computer users (just about everyone else on campus). One of the "computer geeks" in the dorm when I was a freshman wasn't even in a technical major. I've carpooled to several LUG meetings at the U of U (I live in SLC) with a Linux neighbor of mine. He works in IT sector, I work in retail. One of the meetings was about a the advancements of the GCC compiler. Being a former CS student, I was entertained. My neighbor was fighting off sleep. He could have cared less about why "recursion is a bad thing while parsing". He goes to find out about new "cool" things he can do with his Linux box, network with other Linux users, and fix Linux problems. I subscribe to several Linux lists in Utah so I can learn more about an OS that I am enjoying more and more each day. Been doing Linux for about 3 years now, and still somewhat consider myself a newbie even though I have 3 debian boxes running, set up a working DNS, DHCP, NTPD, Samba, self-updating local debian mirror, and am working on a neighborhood Wireless ISP/Co-op. Just this last week I discovered Superkaramba and have been having fun with that. When I walked into my first Linux install-fest with my Pentium 133 w/2GB HD 3 years ago I had the wimpiest machine in the room. But some very patient people there walked me through my first Red-Hat install and I was on my way. Anyways, Embrace Linux, and embrace ALL users of Linux. Not just the ones who program for a living (or for a grade). Later, Dave -------------------- BYU Unix Users Group http://uug.byu.edu/ The opinions expressed in this message are the responsibility of their author. They are not endorsed by BYU, the BYU CS Department or BYU-UUG. ___________________________________________________________________ List Info: http://uug.byu.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uug-list
