On Sun, 2009-06-21 at 15:08 +0530, Shakthi Kannan wrote:
Hi,
--- On Sun, Jun 21, 2009 at 2:46 PM, Ronygnulinuxist@gmail.com wrote: | A student is supposed to follow a syllabus and give answers within its | limits. --
That is where all students have failed, IMO.
Bingo!
Just passing an exam, and getting a degree does not make one an engineer. Very true. And by the way I never said in my mail to change the course. I had just recommended to start with a note saying "although hacking has been given different meanings ..." and then do the *forced* criticism of such a beautiful art.
A student is expected to learn more than what is prescribed in the syllabus, to seek out for knowledge by reading, and practising whatever he/she has learnt (if any).
Unless the sutdent wans to do mugging up and pass the exam.
The ability of ones' own to gain knowledge through self-study, and solve problems by themselves is an art that is very rare to be seen amongst students, and that is a very important skill expected of an "engineer".
Provided we want to create good engineers who don't want to follow popular beliefs.
| When we cannot make the college change its syllabus, why put | pressure on the students to take risks in their exams. --
You don't have to change the syllabus to do self-study, learn and deliver in F/OSS projects.
You don't take a risk by putting a starting note. I think now a days teachers tell students to learn and not mug up.
By the way I am not baliming the student here, but trying to generalise the way to approach the problem in a proper way, instead of following what is popular.
| Anyway it is a | word with different points of view in different environments so lets not | hang him for following his curriculum. --
Just because others' commit suicide, it doesn't mean we should too. Yes, the media and few others have been misusing the term.
Exactly my Point. That's why I gave an example of a woman going sati after her husband's death. It was practiced very extensively and not following it was considered to be a sin as bad as hacking.
But some people felt that it was wrong although practiced extensively. So it is the same case with hacking. It is considered to be a sin to be a hacker. But that's not true. Infact it was never considered to be a bad thing untill the big giants and their dear media made it appear to be a sinful thing.
happy ahcking. Krishnakant.
There is only one definition. Hacking in the Free Software world has been prevalent for decades.
Hacker culture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_(academia)#Definition
How to become a hacker: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html
SK
-- Shakthi Kannan http://www.shakthimaan.com