--- David Bowles
"I think the reason why exam boards are afraid to offer such options is that it is not 'old hat' and they have an fundamental abhorrence of anything that might involve them in 'trying and testing' something different."
... which is not what I said, and puts words in my mouth.
Now I realise this is paradoxical, but perhaps the other main reason is that there are a lack of qualified people to actually *teach* the proposed module.
...which tips us into a circular argument about there being a lack of courses and qualifications for those who might want to learn how to teach such a module.
Yes, but then I have already said this. This is not a recent issue. Its been like this for a good number of years.
There's also the fact that Linux has traditionally been 'self-taught' ...at the level of 'kernel development coordinator' all the way down to the humble user. Indeed I'd be surprised if Linus Tourvalds himself possesses a formal academic 'Linux' qualification.
But it is not about qualifications, there aren't any "formal" linux qualifications, only those offered by commercial entities such as RH (which is actual rather meaningless anyway). [..snip..]
Well maybe the Linux community simply has to come up with a qualification structure and range of courses commensurate with that of Microsoft's. Only then will academia rush to produce their own self-referentially 'valid' academic qualification.
It's not as simple as that. We have to actually get the people who sit on the examboard panel to recognise the need that Linux is growing. I doubt very much creating a course would do any good -- it doesn't actually help them in what they need to know. -- Thomas Adam ===== "The Linux Weekend Mechanic" -- http://linuxgazette.net "TAG Editor" -- http://linuxgazette.net "<shrug> We'll just save up your sins, Thomas, and punish you for all of them at once when you get better. The experience will probably kill you. :)" -- Benjamin A. Okopnik (Linux Gazette Technical Editor) ___________________________________________________________ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - sooooo many all-new ways to express yourself http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com