When Razvan Rughinis began teaching the introductory operating systems course at University Politehnica of Bucharest in Romania 10 years ago, he was challenged to get students interested in Linux and keep them interested for the entire three-month course.
Many first-year computer science students have no experience with Linux, and they have no interest in learning it, said Rughinis a professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department. And those students who do know Linux are regarded as unusual and treated as social outcasts, he said.
“They wouldn't pay attention to the first experience to see what Linux has to offer; not just the desktop, but how the services work and the depth of the system,” he said. “It's a steep learning curve for students coming from high school. Their first encounter was too difficult.”
To help his students get interested in and engaged with Linux, Rughinis created World of USO, an open source, interactive online game that teaches the basics of the operating system at the same time it encourages participation and competition. He's now run the game the last eight years, with great results.
Seems to me this teacher is very imaginative, and knows how to get the Linux community going, with converts to Linux!
He certainly is getting the message out that Linux is cool.
More here
I would not hesitate to switch to Windows if it could compete; and in my book - it can't.
The computer and the OS have to be offered separately.
