April 22, 2005

Videoconferencing with Bertrand's students

Yesterday, I had a videochat with Bertrand's students (well, he is a pro also).

One of the questions was "how can you make a living if you work on opensource stuff?" Well, precisely, working on opensource stuff helps me to make a living. More and more customers are opensource-aware, and being actively involved in opensource projects is key in convincing them to work with us rather than with large IT shops.

I really think opensource is something that should now be part of what is taught to CS students, so that they understand what it is, how it works and why it is important.

Posted by Sylvain Wallez at April 22, 2005 10:25 AM
Comments

As an Ex-Lecturer in Computer Science now attempting to make a living through Open Source I completely agree.

As part of my teaching work I tried to introduce Open Source as a concept to the Students. I also tried to introduce Open Source development methodologies as a way to manage final year projects (this is one of the most time consuming things in CS education and in an understaffed department it is the first to be cut, at my lst University students were graduating *without* ever having done a complete project).

I wonder if you (or any others of your readers) would be interested helping with the creation of a curriculum for CS educators?

Posted by: Ross Gardler on April 22, 2005 05:29 PM

Once I had a hard time trying to explain a microsoft certified administrator that some people are developping products for free and earn money from books and consulting!

Posted by: Benjamin Francisoud on April 25, 2005 09:59 AM