On Sun, May 10, 2020 at 8:08 PM David Mertz <mertz@gnosis.cx> wrote:
Why would you use Word? LaTeX exists, and will export to PDF. Heck, the PDF export from Jupyter is quite good (by way of LaTeX).

On Sun, May 10, 2020, 7:40 PM Jonathan Goble <
Several of the questions required us to write Bash scripts or Python functions, and we were required to write all of that code, along with all of our other exam answers, several of which were essay questions, in Microsoft Word and then export the whole mess as a single PDF file to be uploaded. We were not allowed to submit multiple files, or zip files, or anything at all except one single PDF file containing all of our answers and code.

This exam format was dropped on us with short notice before the midterm and we didn't have time to set up and learn brand-new tooling. Also, this was a freshman-level course, and I highly doubt more than a tiny fraction of the class had even heard of LaTeX, much less knew how to use it (I've definitely heard of it, but haven't the slightest clue how to use it myself). And as the course was many students' first introduction to Python (we only covered the bare basics of the language), Jupyter was again something most students in the class had probably never heard of.

The course's primary focus was on introducing students to the usage of the command line interface and to the usage of Linux in general, and Python was a one-week side note to that. Most of the course centered on Bash and on general OS concepts (processes, virtual memory, etc.).