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Subject:Re: Tech Writing Curriculum From:Janice Gelb <janiceg -at- marvin -dot- eng -dot- sun -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 12 Nov 2001 12:55:18 -0800 (PST)
In article A4BF47EBCD8A9944858B58456D1754C1073F49 -at- IRIS -dot- acresgaming -dot- com, JGilger -at- acresgaming -dot- com ("Gilger.John") writes:
>There has been a lot of interesting commentary on this topic.
>
>Let me add a contrarian string to this thread.
>
>Why not teach open source tools? A great deal of their development has
>been, and continues to be done, in the CS labs at most universities.
>This would add several benefits to the education of an aspiring tech
>writer.
>
All of the points you make subsequent to this one, about the
benefits to the student, the school, and the open source
community, are good ones. However, the answer to your question
as to *why* these tools aren't taught is probably pretty simple:
teachers are teaching these courses and students are taking them
primarily so the students can get a job in the industry after they
graduate. Most places of business do not use open source tools.
And, unfortunately, most human resources departments are not smart
enough to correlate experience with those tools with experience
with the tools a specific company uses.
*********************************************************************
Janice Gelb | Just speaking for me, not Sun.
janice -dot- gelb -at- eng -dot- sun -dot- com | http://www.geocities.com/Area51/8018/
"The legal system prevents us from killing each other. The
etiquette system prevents us from driving each other crazy."
-- Miss Manners
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