Free, Libre, and Open Source Software and Programming Languages
Name of facilitator: Seth Viebrock
E-mail: seth@viebrock.us Phone: 612-387-4302
Course description:
Check the following site for more course details, coming soon: http://www.flossclass.com
In this course we will investigate free (no-cost), libre (do what you want with it), open source (the source code is available) software (FLOSS) and programming languages. We will work and learn in a collaborative manner, utilizing dynamic pair programming, screen sharing, group discussion, and peer teaching. We will start with discussion and examination of the FLOSS movements along with the related economics, business models, legality, and technical underpinnings. Next we will take a comparative look at common open source programming languages like Perl, Python, Ruby, PHP and others if there is interest. The goal is to attain an understanding of the fundamentals of programming (for beginners) and to attain a deeper understanding in computational linguistic expression and an expanded linguistic toolkit (for more advanced programmers). Beginners will have to work somewhat hard to catch up, more advanced programmers will have to work hard to understand in detail (and explain to others) what they already think they know. Finally, we will take a look at collaborative development techniques, version control, and if there is time and interest a class collaborative project. Themes covered in the course will be synthesized with other areas of knowledge including Economics, Linguistics, Psychology, and personal productivity.
NOTE: A laptop is highly recommended for this class. If you do not have a laptop please contact the facilitator of this course to see if arrangements can be made, as one or two desktops may be able to be provided on-location. Any laptop should be fine, but it would be advantageous to your learning to be able to install and run something like this on your system: http://www.activestate.com/Products/komodo_ide/komodo_edit.mhtml or http://easyeclipse.org/site/distributions/lamp.html
Class Time: 8pm-9:30pm (negotiable depending on your schedule -- we can do earlier if everyone wants to, or even on a different day if it's collectively better for the group)
Class Dates: Every Monday starting September 29th, until December 15th
Place: The Hursk Group LLC, 649 Grand Ave. Suite #2, Saint Paul, MN (upstairs, 2nd floor)
Class size: Minimum ____2_____ Maximum ____10_____
What experience do you bring to this class? I have a B.A. in Economics from Macalester, speak 7 human languages with varying fluency, and I’ve been programming in open source for over two years and have been working full-time as a programming consultant for The Hursk Group LLC for over one year. I’ve attended several Perl programming language conferences and am helping to organize one this fall. I’ve studied learning and behavior both at Macalester and the University of MN as a Psychology Department lab manager and student, I’m interested in collaboration both in learning and in production/development.
