Hi,
I am currently undergoing training for my company in Coimbatore. We have many courses to complete in the two month period, one of them labeled as "Linux". That course happened yesterday.
It was something really new for me as I got to know some very new things about GNU/Linux Systems:
=> Stallman and Linus came together to make Linux => Linus was developing on Minix and then he had an idea to create Linux, which he shared with others on a mailing list and all of them started working on Linux together (rather than him announcing the first prototype on usenet). => The default Linux installation is as a server attached to dumb terminals. => The shell, etc for Linux was created after the kernel. => The default is only console. If you want GUI with Unix, you need to *buy* X-Windows. => symlinks are exactly like windows shortcuts
and much more.
My point is not to make fun of the professor as I believe many do not really even make an attempt to understand the history of anything, leave alone GNU/Linux. That said, trainers and teachers should be fairly accurate in all that they give to their audience.
All I said above doesn't simply apply to the trainer I experienced yesterday. Everyone using GNU/Linux in the mainstream only know that they're using "Linux" and that it's simply another Unix that can be only used in servers. It actually reminds me of a comment by a very senior person in my firm -- "Linux? Why? Doesn't it require, like, expensive hardware or something?"
Is it possible for FSF to take some initiative in starting a Training Certification program which will ensure that the trainers themselves are well trained? FSF would be the best choice to design such a course as it would more or less ensure that the trainer training is not Distro-centric.
I understand deficiency of funds would be the first problem though.
Regards, Siddhesh PS: Please don't ask or guess the company name here; I don't want that to be publicized on list.