Linux Project Idea for next semester

raptor · 2008-07-01T09:46:50-05:00 (Tuesday)

During a conversation with a friend yesterday he showed me this image http://kde-files.org/CONTENT/content-files/44218-linuxdistrotimeline-7.2.png which lays out the entire history of Linux. This got my geeky mind thinking: How cool would it be to install every single one of these on a machine. Now keep in mind I'm not saying every single version (I.E. every release of ubuntu ever) but just one release of each. I thought it would be sort of a neat project, we could print this thing off (BIG) and make it a running check list. It might also be an opportunity for people who have been interested but never introduced to Linux to learn, and I'm sure the rest of us would learn a lot as well. Hmmm... I wonder if we could manage to have them all simultaneously installed... THAT would be a challenge.

Thoughts?

Scott

Tony · 2008-07-01T11:43:17-05:00 (Tuesday)

Shoot, I think it would be cool if we just setup a good Linux server and installed Cygwin on all the computers and gave every student their own user name and password so all the computers, say in the senior projects room, would have virtual Linux on it and we could just ssh into the server. We use this system on Windows boxes at work and it is really nice.

Then we should start requiring all programs from CS240 up to be wrote in Unix, possibly throwing some Java in there (maybe for CS 275?). Not knowing Linux and/or being familiar with the perks of Java hurts in the real world.

As for the Java part. If you use IDEs such as Eclipse or Netbeans, everything is pretty easy and very similar to what we have learned for C++ using Visual Studio. However, implementing some of the more advanced features of Java or just managing a large Java project is a lot harder when in Unix and using Ant scripts to build the project.

Anyways, just some thoughts.

Gregory Bartholomew · 2008-07-01T15:00:30-05:00 (Tuesday)

The cygwin setup you describe is present in EB1036. Although, sometimes the icon on the start menu doesn't show up the first time you log in. I haven't found a workaround for that problem yet (short of adding extra icons to the desktop, which I don't really want to do). It does eventually show up for everyone though. Sorry that it is not set up that way in EB2029 (the senior projects lab). That room is a bit of a mess right now as I am busy with a few other projects. I will get to it eventually.

gb

raptor · 2008-07-01T19:36:48-05:00 (Tuesday)

Tony,

I don't necessarily agree with the forcing of coding in an Linux environment in all classes 240+. BUT, I do think it is important and seeing it in a few classes is extremely helpful. The main purpose of my proposed idea isn't really the Linux familiarity, but doing something geeky and fun, and maybe get some publicity too. Digg anyone?

Scott

bandyguy · 2008-07-01T19:43:50-05:00 (Tuesday)

Sounds like fun. Is there any CS classes that even teach Java?

bandyguy · 2008-07-01T19:49:31-05:00 (Tuesday)

One possible hurdle in this is that I think some of these distros aren't free

raptor · 2008-07-01T23:04:51-05:00 (Tuesday)

I know of one time a Java course was offered. Ironically enough I think every single (maybe one that isn't) senior project from last semester is using Java.

Distros that aren't FREE...Thats an abomination. Something makes me think we could find a way around this. Maybe contact the distributors, who knows.

Tony · 2008-07-02T13:02:23-05:00 (Wednesday)

Scott,

You are probably right. Maybe not every class, but it would be nice to have some class that requires you to work with Java on Unix. However, I feel that just using Java to use Java is pointless. You can learn the syntax etc. very easy. I would like to see it used with Unix and for a somewhat large project. Senior Project is nice, but part of Senior Projects is to allow the student to make that call just as they would have to in the real world.

Anyways, it would just be nice to incorporate this somewhere into our courses.

As for your idea Scott, that would be fun and it might be a good way to get SIUE's name out there.

Shaun Martin · 2008-07-02T21:30:19-05:00 (Wednesday)

Java isn't all that hard to pick up. That's all I've been programming in since I started at AT&T and I can confidently say that I am proficient in Java. In fact there are tons of features in Java that I prefer over C++.

raptor · 2008-07-03T08:40:31-05:00 (Thursday)

Shaun is a Java monkey.....I could have guessed.

Tony · 2008-07-03T22:10:06-05:00 (Thursday)

Yeah java is actually really easy to pick up. I did a lot of work in C#, which is almost exactly like Java, so that isn't the issue. The key here is that it be done with Unix, not using an IDE. Java is a different thing all together when doing it in Unix. Yeah the syntax is the same, but compiling, and managing packages is different. You end up needing to write ant scripts to compile the program, and if you are creating stuff like webservices, things get even trickier.

I strictly use Java out a Lockheed Martin, so I am pretty used to it as well, but we try not to use IDEs and program mostly in vim. There was definitely a learning curve there. Learning how to make packages and manage those correctly, import various code bases etc is a pain in Unix if you have never done it. If you are using something like Netbeans or Eclipse all that is handled for you, including compiling it, but if you are just writing it in vim or something, there is a lot more to it.

Brent Beer · 2008-07-10T10:43:23-05:00 (Thursday)

Speaking of Ubuntu:

http://www.pragprog.com/titles/ktuk/ubuntu-kung-fu