[Tutor] Learning programming

[Christian Tismer]

John Kleinjans wrote:
...

> I'd like to know what other versions and where I can get them, with the
> constraint
> that they have to run on my DOS/W311/W95 machines (yes, I actually have a 386
> in my teaching lab, and a bunch of 486s with 4 Mb RAM; and 3 Pentiums with
> W95).

Arghh! So they gave you all the crap which they could
not use for anything anymore, now take this and teach!
If I were in your company/institution, there would now
be a lot of rumor for a couple of weeks, until I have
at least 16 MB in every machine, and the 386's are gone.

Seriously, with 4 MB of RAM, you cannot teach Windows
applications. What you could do is to install Linux
and use Python under Linux. Or use Hans' DOS Python
here. 

My fear is just that this all will not be too
attractive to the students, since you don't have
an environment which gives them "real problems"
from the environment which they would use at work
or at home.

For me, it also doesn't make sense to teach on Win311
machines any longer since that is a dead OS which puts
an unnecessary learning load on the beginner. If they
go out and buy one of the cheapest machines, it will
be for sure a 200MHz Pentium or up with probably Win98,
at least 16MB of Ram since you can't buy less.

You say, your machines take 20-30 seconds to load Python.
Even on my old 16MB 486 machine which acts as a Linux
server, Python is up and running after less than a second.

Maybe you should tell your employers that it is cheaper
to upgrade a couple of machines than to waste a lot of
your precious time and of your tutees as well. Hardware
is very cheap. If I would put a single 2-hour session
into my tutorials to teach them an out-dated OS which
they don't use after all, this would come at the same
cost as buying a new machine.

good luck - chris

-- 
Christian Tismer             :^)   <mailto:tismer@appliedbiometrics.com>
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