Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 23:18:31 +0100 (CET) From: Salvo Bartolotta <bartequi@neomedia.it> To: Lorin Lund <fbsd@wbs-inc.com> Cc: questions@freebsd.org, Charles Burns <burnscharlesn@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Advocacy help for CS professor Message-ID: <1016835511.3c9badb74132e@webmail.neomedia.it>
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>>I have a CD professor who has a masters in CS and EET from a top 50 >>university yet is enveloped in the Microsoft way of life. While this isn't >>necessarily a bad thing, he is indirectly advocating Windows over Unix for >>all tasks based on knowledge from the Unix of years ago. Alot has changed! >>Showing him that Unix (BSD/Linux, etc) make a great server is easy, but Unix >>is now a great desktop platform as well. This is what I need help with. I >>have written several advocacy messages myself, but they are typically >>targeted to people setting up servers. >> >>I would like to make some specific arguments that will show him that Unix is >>worth giving a try, and if he doesn't like it, fine, his choice. He is >>willing to read what I have to say about it and listen to me as a peer, and >>considering his position as the head of the CS department, this could >>benefit FreeBSD and Unix in general (if you are interested in that sort of >>thing). >> >>This person has the following additude: >> >>- Microsoft has money, therefore can buy the best programmers, therefore has >>the best products. >> > >The argument that more money means more productivity (whether in quality or >volume) >has been amply shown to be false by labor union's inability to produce the >increased >performance they promise at the bargaining table. >Motivation comes from emotions. If people aren't excited about what they do >they will >inevitably give lackluster performance even if they have great potential. A low[er] pay, however, may have nasty [side] effects. :-) <snip> >The one more concept that I don't have particular figures for is that >academic success >is not always a sure indicator of ability to perform well in a working world >environment. I remember >being surprised at a study that showed how low the correlation is but I don't >have any recollection >of the source on that. On a loosely related note, several years ago (in 1991), H. Gardner wrote an illuminating book on the inability of the school system to provide actual education -- and 'actual' is the operative word. The book is entitled "The Unschooled Mind - How Children Think and How Schools Should Teach." Yet I think that in this case Gardner himself would be very surprised. :-)) It is truly amazing how little certain academics (?) [seem to have] read these days, viz. how limited their learning/culture (and Weltans^Wvision) may be. -- Salvo To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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