M$ adds on Linux Today

[Alma J Wetzker]

Roger Oberholtzer wrote:
> On Mon, 2005-10-17 at 15:52, Rick Sivernell wrote:
> 
>>On Mon, 17 Oct 2005 07:57:24 -0500
>>Ben Duncan <bns at meta3.net> wrote:
>>
>>Gents
>>
>>  I have read this thread and almost cried. These people today think we are so stupid
>>and we have no idea of what we are doing or have done. My son last week actually
>>insulted me again on some web page and some work I have completed lately. He thinks
>>his friends are the only smart ones out there and only they understand computing
>>systems. They think eye candy and spiffy looking & busy web sites and the complicated
>>and ill designed are what it is all about. They do not understand KISS princple and
>>knowing what is happening inside the system is very important. I have found most
>>software people in colleges today do not understand they craft, nor do they care.
>>Just get it out, do not bug me with great design or is it give the user what they
>>need. Almost we develope what we think you need and screw the user. The user is
>>stupid and will take what we give them. The people thathire them suffer from the
>>profit now, what future.
> 
> 
> Don't get me started on what comes out of college. We are looking for
> someone to work for us. We want some knowledge of some of the following:
> C, Linux, assembler, FPGA, embedded systems, near-real time systems.
> That sort of thing. No one will have all we want. But these indicate the
> general idea of what we are after. What skill do our applicants possess?
> HTML, VB, Access, Office. This from engineers out of university. They
> are astounded that this is not the same thing as we are looking for.
> Don't we program the DSPs with HTML? Don't the FPGAs run VBasic? No?
> What sort of idiots are we, then? What ancient devices are we struggling
> on with? Geesh.

At the good old U of M, where I attend, this is largely self inflicted. 
  the classes that teach the skills you desire are more difficult than 
the ones that everyone takes.  VHDL is a needlessly hard class here.

I am also dismayed about the EE students.  I run the student branch of 
IEEE computer lab.  I get daily complaints about not having MS Office on 
the computers.  (I setup open office because I insist on having legal 
software on all the machines.)  When I setup two linux boxen, I got many 
loud complaints that we were wasting two perfectly good computers in the 
lab.  These are our future technology professionals, and they are 
completely unwilling to even think about using something not from M$.

I have much better luck with the ACM students.  They like linux because 
all their programming assignments are to be done with unix.  They never 
see VHDL, they are completely unable to even spell DSP, and GOK what 
FPGA is.  And folks wonder why the CS and engineering students are 
having such a hard time finding work these days....

     -- Alma