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List:       kde-devel
Subject:    Re: KDE development as a spectator sport!
From:       Amir Michail <amichail () gmail ! com>
Date:       2005-06-22 23:38:34
Message-ID: eb9696930506221638d26e8ec () mail ! gmail ! com
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On 6/23/05, Michael Pyne <pynm0001@unf.edu> wrote:
> On Wednesday 22 June 2005 06:52, Amir Michail wrote:
> > It may not help you directly.  But one of the goals of such a system
> > would be to make the general public more aware of what software
> > development is really like.  This in turn might increase enrollment in
> > computer science and participation in open source projects.
> 
> I would rather people picked up programming because they liked programming,
> not because they wanted to be a rock star.  Many people found this out the
> hard way after the tech bubble burst after they had already put 2 years into
> a Computer Science degree since they had heard that being a programmer will
> net you millions and a Ferrari.
> 

I think one of the reasons CS enrollment is low is because people
don't really understand what it is all about.  In fact, the field does
not have a good image at all.

From an article entitled "The Thrill is Gone?":

"Computer science is one of the most exciting scientific endeavors in
recent history. Too bad so few have been exposed to the thrill. We
argue below that, in order for computer science to thrive, its "story"
needs to be told to the outside world (especially high schoolers,
parents, teachers, policymakers, and the popular media) in a manner
that keeps the science and the exciting ideas at center stage...  Part
of the problem is the lack of consensus in the public at large on what
computer science actually is. The Advanced Placement test is mostly
about Java, which hurts the field by reducing it to programming
[3]. High school students know that the wild, exotic beasts of physics
(black holes, antimatter, Big Bang) all roam the land of a deep
science. But who among them are even aware that the Internet and
Google also arose from an underlying science? Their list of computing
"Greats" probably begins with Bill Gates and ends with Steve Jobs."

http://theorymatters.org/documents/arorachazelle.pdf

Amir

> Regards,
>  - Michael Pyne
> 
> 
>
 
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