Linux in the TDSB

[Anton Markov]

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Lennart Sorensenwrote:
|>Also, they teach some VB to introduce event-driven GUI programming,
|>which may be a little hard to beat (the people who take those classes
|>are the last people you expect to touch a computer; they know NOTHING).
|>Disecting the Linux Kernel is way above the curriculum.
|
|
| Hmm, python + gtk maybe?
Yes, python would work very well. The advantages would be obvious: it's
cross-platform, and it's a real, live language. The key would be to
integrate it smoothly into the curriculum. The three things we study at
our school is:

1) Basic conditional statements, loops, function calls.
This is done in Turing through "fun" activities like animating circles :(

I would recommend a simple test editor with a "run" and "step through"
button. The language used would be python, but stripped down so that
when the user types 'print "Hello World"' (or whatever it is in Python;
I don't know the language :( ), it outputs that text.

Adding some wrapper functions to standard GTK calls for drawing circles,
lines, squares, etc. and outputting to a GTK windows would be enought to
surpass the basic Turing functionality.

The point here is to make the programs as simple as possible; no "It
just has to be there" stuff.

2) Event-oriented programming.
Currently VB is used for this.

Use an IDE such as Anjuta or something similar that integrates Glade
with an editor. Continuing to use Python would be advantageous, because
the syntax does not change.

3) Object-oriented and modular programming (perhaps network support, etc.)
This is done in Java.

I think this should be left alone, because many Universities use Java in
the first-year courses from what I hear.

Of course it's never too early to teach C++, as long as the kids are
bright enough to handle it :)

So here's the basic question: has there been any progress already done
in this area? If not, would someone be interested in coding up at least
the first idea on the above list? It shouldn't be too difficult, and
would even serve and a Windows replacement for Turing. Perhaps a
"Written in Python for Python" idea would be cool; at the end of the
year have the students examine the sourcecode for the software they've
used all year.

|>I've done Debian installes completely from the command line by using
|>"dbootstrap" I believe (probably the wrong name).
|
|
| Yeah that is the name, although it only works if you already have linux
| booted on the machine.
I was thinking of booting from a custom Knoppix CD that would detect all
the hardware, wipe the HD, dbootstrap the installation, and then install
only the necessairy packages from either the CD or a local proxy/mirror.
~ Sort of like a custom installer.

Your next comment makes this idea obsolete :)

|
| There are plans for debian to allow fully automated installs once the
| new version is released since it's much more modular and scriptable now.
Ya, I heard the new installer is sweet overall.

- --
Anton Markov <("anton" + "@" + "truxtar" + "." + "com")>

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