O'Reilly Python Certification

[Stephen Bunn]

At Tue, 28 Dec 2010 20:07:29 +0000 (UTC),
J. Altman wrote:
> 
> I have a general question.
> 
> Does it seem odd that a certificate in Python, an Open Source
> language; taught at O'Reilly, which offers an Open Source Programming
> Certificate and is something like waist-deep in Open Source
> publishing; is offered to the world at large but only (IIUC) if one
> runs some version of Windows by MS?
> 
> Based on what I am given to understand from my correspondence with
> OST, it seems that I *must* install an instance of Windows to take the
> certificate's courses.
This is not true.  You can take the course on any operating system that supports a RDP client.  I am enrolled with in the python course and I use GNU/Linux. They even have instructions on their website on how to configure it. I would have preferred them to use a UNIX shell. I'm still waiting for somebody to come up with a course that teaches me a programming language, while teaching me a VCS and allows me to write code and submit to a repo with other students contributing. You want to bring people into F/OSS -- That is how you do it!

The complaint that I do have with OST (at least the Python course) and the reason I have not completed (or even worked on the course in almost a year) it, is that its just plain boring. It's almost 2011! Give me some interactive flash, a video, something. Reading some pages of dry text just doesn't cut it for me. I can do that on my own. If I'm going to pay for a course I want a teacher that is going to teach me something. I can buy plenty of books and read them. The entire course is just plain dry text. I don't even remeber seeing an image diagram. On top of that the text is horribly ugly to look at.