Chaos, the Fashion and Hacker

July 31, 2010 · Posted in C / C + + , Tips , Linux , Opinion , Perl , Technology

The Chaos

This happened last Friday's class travel vacation 20hs some friends and I ministered in FEI on introduction to Linux. I would like to record our thanks once again for all the support we received from the institution, represented by Prof. Plinio .

The course was affectionately redefined during the week as "a chaotic and fun introduction to the Linux world," because instead of focusing on memorization of comandinhos, we try to show students how to fend for themselves, accustoming them to use the manual and leaving it them comfortable enough to try.

The issue was more or less in the style of "What happens if I press this red button?", Where even the teachers were wrong to use it as a hook to the next topic.

The first day we talk to students that they did not need a course with experts so that they could exploit the system, then the phrase most often used was "I do not know. Let's look at the man? ", Then a little help on how to locate and understand the manual correctly.

In this format, interact on hand, basic commands, file system organization, permissions, pipes, file descriptors, redirecting I / O, particioamento among other topics, always focusing on questions of students, rather than in the course program, showing that they could tease out a particular subject as deeply as they wanted.

Naturally, we ended up not having time to enter into various subjects, but the topics have not addressed, or the more specific terms were left on the board to inquire throughout and they write down on their own, always taking care to give a direction, so that they would not get lost or chewed with everything.

In Quatá Monday, we covered the installation of Linux, using the example of Ubuntu. Even a stick that has corrupted some ISOs served as a hook to speak of checksum. Soon they were already setting up the system alone, updating and installing packages without interfering much we needed.

The Thursday was the day most audacious for an introductory course. Focusing on the needs of students, we discuss development and debug tools. We gave an overview of the build steps, we show how macros are pre-processed, as object code is generated and how objects are linked. We talked briefly about cpp, gcc, ld, gdb, nm, objdump, and how the libraries are created without scaring commands, focusing on the concepts behind it.

Although this is a fairly advanced topic, to show students that they were fully able to understand what was going on and deepen the subject if they wanted. We show that we exist and because of the curiosity of every one.

Fashion

On Friday we brought a question about the humanity of the people who operate the machines and how technology can be harmful to them. We try to get students to ask themselves about why they chose this career.

In this chat was followed by a session of questions about where the market was asked what technologies should be learned to excel in the market. It raised the question of knowledge product-driven, and the market view is that we should seek knowledge only if motivated by a problem or creating products.

Unfortunately, we did not have enough time for a broader discussion, but at this point, the opinion of the instructors opinion differs from the market.

We all know that motivates the need. Do not disagree with that. What we do not accept is that the search for knowledge is pruned by whether or not a particular need.

When we are subject to market trends are always a step behind what is happening. Someone has determined that technology X is the state of the art computing and we can only run like crazy to remain part of the herd. We have become slaves. Beings passive, reactive.

And without freedom of thought, no feeling, no creativity, we lose what makes us human. We become machines.

Want an example?

In the 90s, the fashion market was Delphi. Whenever a student asked what he should learn to enter the market, the answer was: Delphi. Because Delphi was used in many companies, because most job openings were for Delphi programmers, etc.. Thus, a huge mass of people was encouraged to learn one tool, without worrying about basic algorithmic, logic, structure or style. Much has become cheap labor and dispensable.

When the winds blew from the market in another direction, who was not really prepared was wiped off the map.

Then came Java,. NET, Ruby, among others.

So you're saying that these languages ​​are bad? Definitely not, and this is not the focus. The balcony is that even in those languages ​​of fashion, few people are actually prepared and well positioned, while the majority is not replaceable and labor cheap.

What makes a professional to be successful is its ability to solve problems, not how many tools he knows manipulate.

Of course, the more tools at their disposal, the easier it tends to be your job, but this is only true if you have enough base to choose which tool applies and what does not apply. This is perhaps the best measure of competence.

Returning to the question above, if you only seek knowledge when there is a need, you probably will not have enough content available to them to make a good choice when you need it. In fact the choice has already been done by someone else and you only left the option to accept and follow, then of course chasing to learn what someone else has decided what is best for you.

Non Dvcor Dvco

When someone asks me what I must learn to enter the labor market, to always remember the phrase that is the flag of the city of São Paulo, I am not led, lead.

So I say the question is reversed. It's all wrong and this fallacy is sold with pomp and circumstance. You do not have to learn anything to please the market, in fact what you have to do is let the market wanting to have you, wanting you.

If you're always worried about what others want you to do, you are always one step behind, looking for something that is not what you want, and that once the wind changes can become useless.

Ask instead what features you need to develop to become a professional you want. The answer is simple. Is excellent. Choose what gives you more pleasure and devote yourself to hard. Prepare yourself, seek foundation, do not hold your tools and commands, know what is around what you are doing. Be curious, ask . Learn to be a hacker in the true sense of the word.

When you stop worrying about what's in fashion you will realize that there are vacancies that can not be filled by pushers rat.

Always seek knowledge, even without an obvious application, as the world's great inventions were made possible only after integrating ideas often unrelated. There's always more of a science behind everything you touch.

Explore with passion the most of their abilities, that success is a mere cosequência.

Appendix

Especially but not exclusively for students of the course, leave some interesting links:

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Comments

  • Luciana

    =)

  • Junio

    Excellent words. Thank you!

  • http://blogseopark.blogspot.com/2010/12/nuvenus-chovendus-desafio-seo.html Nuvenus Chovendus

    Show the ball to the post, I have a question, FEI FEI is quoted in Sao Bernardo do Campo?
    And what the literature would indicate to become a hacker technological lol?

    Hugs
    : D

  • http://blabos.org Blabos of Blebe

    Yes, the FEI is St. Bernard.

    Well, I would not be able to indicate you * A * hacker literature. Read what you enjoy, what you like to read, and especially read a lot.

    An author is the fairly frequent Tolkien , especially if you lean to Perl.

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