Education Case Study: Computer Science classes compile great students with GNU/Linux

How things got started...

We needed a lab for our Computer Science program. The curriculum at that time was moving from Pascal to C++. It will soon be moving again to Java. We are now using Python in our introductory course.

Why Free Software?

GNU/Linux came with everything we needed for our program. It also ran well on all the varied donated equipment we were using to set up the lab.

The plan...

Our GNU/Linux solution has evolved continuously over the last five years. This year we began using the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) solution, which has made maintainable of the lab *MUCH* easier and increased usability as a result. We now have Linux on all our Business Department servers and are considering expending it to another lab next year.

Evaluation...

Yes, as a platform for teaching computer science, it is without equal. Compilers/interpreters are available for almost any language you can think of, and they are both high quality AND open source! Linux is only now beginning to be ready for use in a general purpose lab. At the rate things like OpenOffice and Gnome and KDE are progressing, it will be fully ready for the general purpose lab within a year.

The Future...

We are looking at using LTSP in another lab next year. The new lab would be a Business lab rather than a Computer Science lab. If it is successful there, it could be used anywhere.