Just a thought I had. I spent some time working my way though some of this actually excellent courses:
javapassion.com root page
I imagine that these courses, based on SUN products led by a SUN employee (until recently) actually created somekind of boost for SUN.
Are there something like this for SuSE? It doesn’t need to be SuSE specific, “Programming python on SuSE” is still PR if you ask me…
it is no longer SuSE, now it is either openSUSE which you get from the
“openSUSE Community” or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server/Desktop
(SLES/SLED) an industrial strength version, which you get from Novell…
Novell also provides training, see: http://www.novell.com/training/
–
palladium
Sorry, yes of course - I knew that.
However, when it comes to marketing I think they both prosper from the “SuSE” brand which I think should be strengthened. I think more people know about the Ubuntu brand then the green lizard, so far. The Ubuntu people have been good at marketing.
Novell offers great training, that’s true but I think free community training through the web attracts more openSuSE users worlwide then paid lectures.
Whatever, I’ll se what I might have time to cook up later on.
On Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:16:03 +0000, elwis wrote:
> Novell offers great training, that’s true but I think free community
> training through the web attracts more openSuSE users worlwide then paid
> lectures.
Well, Novell does offer some free training, but not specifically on
openSUSE - there are some older courses for SLE available in our Open
Courseware catalog (http://ocw.novell.com). The SLED books (courses 6200
and 6201) are geared for students rather than for adults, but some of
those courses may be of interest to you.
But in a broader sense, what sort of topics would you see covered for a
community training resource? I actually work in Novell’s Technical
Training department, and it might be interesting to pursue something like
this in the community (I’ve had ideas about this in the past for our
enterprise products, but hadn’t thought a lot about something that was
specifically for openSUSE since my focus has been on the enterprise
products).
I’m game for a discussion on this - maybe we can start building a new
community resource.
Jim
–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Moderator
Hi Jim, glad to hear you.
First of all, the way I see it there’s two goals with building a free training/class community. Spread the openSuSE brand and share knowledge among users.
(that’s why I would like to call it “beginning python programming on openSuSE” not on “Linux”)
About the topics, I suppose it depends on what people would like to write, or would Novell do the hard work?
Obvious topics would be installing/configuring openSuSE, chapters about configuring the desktop, setting up a homeserver etc
Others could be more general, as I said, but pushing the openSuSE brand. “Developing ASP .NET on openSuSE”, “Graphical Design on openSuSE”, “Multimedia …”
Specifying a certain distro will also assure that people will get going. There’s nothing more frustrating then a “Getting started” guide where you fail at step two. In the diversed land of the penguin I’m afraid this happens too often.
Anyway, when the happy student finish his course, a nice pdf diploma will arrive in his mailbox (always reward)and he is a little bit more confident doing daily work in his distro of choice.
elwis wrote:
> Obvious topics would be installing/configuring openSuSE, chapters about
> configuring the desktop, setting up a homeserver etc
kinda like these?
http://faculty.weber.edu/kcuddeback/Classes/TBE3200/Slides/9781428322271_PPT_ch01.ppt
http://faculty.weber.edu/kcuddeback/Classes/TBE3200/Slides/9781428322271_PPT_ch02.ppt
http://faculty.weber.edu/kcuddeback/Classes/TBE3200/Slides/9781428322271_PPT_ch03.ppt
http://faculty.weber.edu/kcuddeback/Classes/TBE3200/Slides/9781428322271_PPT_ch04.ppt
or, more like this:
http://www.novell.com/documentation/opensuse112/book_opensuse_startup/?page=/documentation/opensuse112/book_opensuse_startup/data/book_opensuse_startup.html
–
palladium
Yes the novell document seem useful, that could probably be worked on and be the foundation for one course.
The ppt’s seem to be slides for an instructor lead course without the instructor. Or at least the first one, my point is to create more real lectures with assignments to hand in, and then some sort of PDF diploma for the once that finish the course. (as stated - always reward)
Not sure I have time for it the nearest months but if there will be somekind of “openSuSE academy” website I might get some “Getting started python/mono/java/groovy programming on openSuSE” going…
I think the opportunity for training is almost limitless!
I do ASP.NET developmetn at work, and one of my frequented sites (The Official Microsoft ASP.NET Site) has an ever-growing number of training videos that go over one aspect or another, and they are free to view.
Something like this would be, I think, an increadible boon to openSUSE/SUSE and Linux in general.
Beginner[ul]
[li]Installing
[/li][li]Partitioning[LIST]
[/li][li]What are partitions?
[/li][li]What is a good partition scheme?
[/li][li]Physical vs LVM?
[/li][/ul]
[li]Compatibility[ul]
[/li][li]How do I open my old files?
[/li][li]Why does my old file not open?
[/li][li]How can I make this compatible?
[/li][li]What formats are most compatible?
[/li][/ul]
[li]Setting up Email[ul]
[/li][li]What email applications are included / available?
[/li][li]How do I set up my client (Kmail, Evolution, Thunderbird )
[/li][li]What is POP? What is IMAP? What is the difference?
[/li][li]How can I connect to my Gmail / Hotmail / Yahoo! mail?
[/li][/ul]
[li]Sharing folders in a network
[/li][li]“Where’s the C: \ prompt?”; The Linux directory system and File Managers (Dolphin, Konquerer, Nautilus)
[/li][li]Systems[ul]
[/li][li]Am I protected?
[/li][li]What is a firewall?
[/li][li]Do I need an Anti-Virus?
[/li][li]How do I use wireless?
[/li][li]How do I install Wireless?
[/li][li]How do I install graphic card drivers?
[/li][li]Where is solitaire?
[/li][/ul]
[/LIST]
Intermediate[ul]
[li]Providing Feedback[LIST]
[/li][li]Reporting bugs
[/li][li]Making suggestions
[/li][li]Using forums
[/li][/ul]
[li]Installing Programs[ul]
[/li][li]From repositories
[/li][li]Adding repositories
[/li][li]From .rpm
[/li][li]using Yast
[/li][li]using Zypper
[/li][li]from source
[/li][li]Updating
[/li][li]Upgrading
[/li][/ul]
[li]Restricted formats[ul]
[/li][li]What are the restircted formats?
[/li][li]What are the alternatives?
[/li][li]Why are restricted formats restricted?
[/li][li]How can I install them anyway?
[/li][/ul]
[li]Basic Common Applications [ul]
[/li][li]OpenOffice.org
[/li][li]Gimp
[/li][li]Amarok / Banshee
[/li][li]DigiKam / F-Spot
[/li][li]Cheese (webcams)
[/li][/ul]
[/LIST]
Advanced[ul]
[li]Integrating with Active Directory
[/li][li]Starting to program [LIST]
[/li][li]What languages are compatible?
[/li][li]What IDEs are available? (Eclipse, Monodevelop, etc.)
[/li][li]Choosing a language
[/li][li]Choosing an IDE
[/li][li]How do I make it cross-platform?
[/li][li]Transfering to Windows/Mac
[/li][li]Making a desktop application that work
[/li][li]Submitting an application to be included in the repositories
[/li][/ul]
[li]Open Source licenses[ul]
[/li][li]What is available?
[/li][li]What do they mean?
[/li][li]What are their limitations?
[/li][li]Can I make money from this?
[/li][/ul]
[li]Maintaining a package[ul]
[/li][li]Picking a package
[/li][li]What does it involve?
[/li][li]How to be chosen to manage a package?
[/li][/ul]
[/LIST]
I know a lot of those can be done with web pages and such, but sometimes being able to watch a video is better than reading.
Sorry for them being scattered… I just rambled them off the top of my head but I have to return to work now…
Great idea!
And yes, all those courses could be googled for elsewhere. The point is pushing the “openSuSE” brand, and telling in detail how to get going this specific distro.
And of course… collecting them all at one single webportal would be nice. I also think that a lot of people will find the idea of collection good looking diplomas on their wall will boost their ego.
(Like back in the days when anyone could get a Microsoft certification without the need of installing NT…)
I was thinking something like this OpenSuSE Academy
The coursematerial could be pdf’s, flashmovies or whatever the community feel like producing.
What do you think, is it worth considering?
elwis wrote:
> or whatever the community feel like producing.
you speak of ‘community’ like you expect a lot of folks to get busy
helping this project along…and, maybe they will…i hope they will…
but, for now: if you have the spare time to throw at getting this
academy off the ground, i’d highly recommend you spend that time now
helping to get the new wiki to fly…see:
http://news.opensuse.org/2009/12/22/under-construction-new-wiki-underway/
imo that would do more in the short term to solidify the openSUSE
brand than a long range, long term commitment to generate and keep
updated a free training course…
–
palladium
elwis wrote:
> I was thinking something like this ‘OpenSuSE Academy’
i think i forgot to mention, please learn how to spell it correctly:
it is not
SuSE, S.u.S.E, SUSE, OpenSuSE or OpenSUSE
it used to be a lot of different things and while it may change again,
today it is openSUSE everytime, everywhere…
–
palladium
Yeah, I wish they would just call it “SUSE”, since Novell’s products are “SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop” and “SUSE Linux Enterprise Server”, so they aren’t really “SUSE”, they are “Enterprise Desktop/Server” spins.
To get the “Academy” off the ground and community-involved needs a lot of leg-work to get things started so people can see WHAT it is, and then be able to get those interested able to contribute.
That does bring up some interesting ideas, though; like is there a way to embed a tutorial video in the wiki? Also, what are soem good desktop capturing applications to do a tutorial video?
Hi
Recordmydesktop is one;
http://software.opensuse.org/search?baseproject=openSUSE%3A11.2&p=1&q=recordmydesktop
I use vmware workstation which has the ability to record, not sure
about the others vbox etc?
–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 (x86_64) Kernel 2.6.27.42-0.1-default
up 19 days 3:27, 4 users, load average: 0.03, 0.11, 0.08
GPU GeForce 8600 GTS Silent - CUDA Driver Version: 190.53
On Tue, 02 Feb 2010 05:46:02 +0000, elwis wrote:
> Hi Jim, glad to hear you.
>
> First of all, the way I see it there’s two goals with building a free
> training/class community. Spread the openSuSE brand and share knowledge
> among users.
> (that’s why I would like to call it “beginning python programming on
> openSuSE” not on “Linux”)
I have often viewed training materials as marketing materials of a sort -
though with more in-depth technical detail than you’d find in traditional
“marketing fluff” - ie, light on fluff, high on content. But from the
standpoint of name recognition (in particular), it’s very important.
> About the topics, I suppose it depends on what people would like to
> write, or would Novell do the hard work? Obvious topics would be
> installing/configuring openSuSE, chapters about configuring the desktop,
> setting up a homeserver etc
Knowing the workload the course development team is under (since the team
reports to the same manager that I do), it would be a community effort,
but I could get advice on some good instructional design practices to
incorporate into the project. That would make for materials that were
teachable.
From a format standpoint, there’s a number of options - ranging from
print books (for which the project would need to find a publisher or fund
self-publishing - the Blender project has done something like this so
could be a template).
That type of format lends itself to “classroom” style learning, but that
may not be ideal for a community project - though as something that could
be used as a “canned” presentation for LUG meetings, that could be useful
and an easier-to-consume format. That would result in modules that were
at most a couple of hours long rather than, say, a 4-day class (which
would require an instructor, classroom, computers, and other resources).
But there are other formats as well - for example, at Novell, we are
really heavy into “On Demand” using Moodle Rooms. The sessions are pre-
recorded and include demonstrations and a workbook for labs, but the
student has to set things up for the labs.
Combined with something like SUSE Studio, though, installation/
configuration for doing the labs would actually be fairly trivial to do
because the environment could be a pre-built VM set up using Studio.
> Others could be more general, as I said, but pushing the openSuSE brand.
> “Developing ASP .NET on openSuSE”, “Graphical Design on openSuSE”,
> “Multimedia …”
Some of these would also be good ideas to include - though for something
like python development (from your earlier example), from a learning
perspective, I think the more generic course would be preferred by the
audience. That doesn’t mean, though, the community couldn’t develop
courses along these lines and have a “SUSE Flavour” to them, license
under Creative Commons and let other distros leverage the work this
proposed team would do.
> Specifying a certain distro will also assure that people will get going.
> There’s nothing more frustrating then a “Getting started” guide where
> you fail at step two. In the diversed land of the penguin I’m afraid
> this happens too often.
This is very true. Extending the original concept of the project to more
generic topics does allow for a broader range of topics to be covered
with (as I seaid earlier) a “SUSE Flavour” - as long as the knowledge is
portable to other distros. From a student perspective, portability of
knowledge is highly valued if a skill applies across multiple platforms.
> Anyway, when the happy student finish his course, a nice pdf diploma
> will arrive in his mailbox (always reward)and he is a little bit more
> confident doing daily work in his distro of choice.
Sure - a course completion certificate is something that could be put
together, along with actual testing. Looking from a testing perspective,
though, the ideal would be what in the testing business (which is my
specific role in Novell’s training business, though I’ve done instruction
and course development as well) we call a “high stakes” exam - ie, a
proctored exam that is closed-book. Test publishing is somewhat
expensive to do, though - costing several thousand dollars per exam.
However, as it happens, I’m attending a conference next week for the
Association of Test Publishers, and will have the opportunity to chat
with many testing publishers. I could see what options are available
from that standpoint, of course with the caveat that this is still very
early at this point, but that we’re just looking to see what options are
available.
Jim
–
Jim Henderson, CNA6, CDE, CNI, LPIC-1, CLA10, CLP10
Novell Technical Training
On Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:06:02 +0000, dragonbite wrote:
> Sorry for them being scattered… I just rambled them off the top of my
> head but I have to return to work now…
Excellent ideas - one that comes to mind for me is a “Windows to Linux”
skills translation course. Take common tasks done in Windows and
translate them to how you do them in Linux. Something like that would
certainly help adoption because it could reduce the learning curve for
people making the switch.
Jim
–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Moderator
dragonbite wrote:
> Yeah, I wish they would just call it “SUSE”
but it is not just SUSE…it is openSUSE, open as in free and open
source software (aka: FOSS, F/OSS, FLOSS)
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open_source_software>…
when you have installed openSUSE you have installed a pure free and
open source software system…
which differs from many other distros and is the reason that (for
example) Mint and others are born doing things that openSUSE cannot do…
until packman is enabled and NON-open source software is invited in…
see?
–
palladium
On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:17:26 +0000, palladium wrote:
> it used to be a lot of different things and while it may change again,
> today it is openSUSE everytime, everywhere…
Part of the process of doing any serious course development would be a
round of both technical review and editorial review. Those become doubly
important if and when we start talking about localization (ie,
translating to other languages). 
Jim
–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Moderator
On Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:36:01 +0000, elwis wrote:
> Not sure I have time for it the nearest months but if there will be
> somekind of “openSuSE academy” website I might get some “Getting started
> python/mono/java/groovy dprogramming on openSuSE” going…
Perhaps before we get to that point, though, we should start by looking
at a vision for what we want people to get out of it. It’s always good
to start with the end in mind. The vision can change and be tweaked, of
course, but let’s start by figuring out what we want to do.
Since I’ve got background in training, testing, and certification, I’d be
happy to be a focal point and provide some coordination and to drive the
discussion. I think there’s some really serious potential here to do
something that (as far as I know) no other Linux distribution is doing,
and I’m honestly quite excited about the prospect of seeing what is
possible with a community training material development model.
I also can think of a few people I’ve worked with in the past several
years who have experience in course development who may have an interest
in contributing their expertise to a project like this from an
instructional design perspective.
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Moderator
A Rose by any other name …