[TriLUG] the future of programming (was Piece of History)
Kevin J.
mrkevinj at yahoo.com
Sun Feb 24 22:28:51 EST 2008
Man, I could not have that said that better if I tried. Many of the things you said are some of the very reasons why I, and several other members of our local (UC)LUG, created the Free Linux PC program (www.freelinuxpc.org). It seems very obvious, to me anyway, that the time has come for every child to have at least a basic introduction to technology; and awareness of how information is created, controlled, modified, and disseminated.
It's happening all around the world already. Children, even in slums, are getting access to the same information that kids in wealthier nations have access to; and they are quite often much more motivated to learn and excel. The combined brain power of the human species is just mind-boggling; and I think we're just at the very beginning of a tremendous awakening of knowledge and communication.
At any rate, your points are well taken. Personally, I think there needs to be a much broader discussion of the impact and use of technology, particularly in small town America. The kids who are not getting constant exposure to computing today are going to be at a severe loss in 10, 15, 20 years. I have been in the IT field for just over 10 years, but I am probably the biggest noob on this list. It takes 15 - 20 years of study and practice just to gain serious computing skills unless you are hard-wired for it (i.e., have a mild to severe case of Asperger's Syndrome). I don't know if you've ever heard of "The Wealth of Networks" by Yochai Benkler (http://www.benkler.org/wealth_of_networks/index.php/Main_Page), but you'd probably find it a worthwhile read.
Kevin
----- Original Message ----
From: Justis Peters <jtrilug at indythinker.com>
To: Triangle Linux Users Group General Discussion <trilug at trilug.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2008 5:08:14 PM
Subject: Re: [TriLUG] the future of programming (was Piece of History)
Kevin
J.
wrote:
>
As
I
read
through
these
posts,
I
can't
help
but
wonder
what
the
future
of
programming
will
look
like.
Given
that
kids
today
will
likely
receive
Windows
Vista
(aka,
TV
on
steroids),
or
an
Apple
Mac
(aka,
unix-based
TV
on
steroids),
it's
hard
to
imagine
that
*any*
good
programmers
will
develop
from
this
TV-driven
culture
we
live
in.
>
>
Personally,
I
think
the
only
decent
programmers
of
tomorrow
will
come
from
the
kids
(mostly
elsewhere
in
the
world)
who
grew
up
using
Linux.
>
Those
older
computers
and
the
skills
we
learned
on
them
were
the
building
blocks
of
the
productivity
and
creativity
machines
that
we
all
use
today.
There
are
many
more
layers
of
complexity
now
than
there
were
then.
Very
few
humans
are
likely
to
understand
computing
at
every
layer.
There
are
just
too
many
layers.
If
I
find
someone
who
knows
HTML,
CSS2,
Javascript,
DHTML
like
the
back
of
his
hand,
I'm
certainly
not
going
to
scoff
at
him
because
he
doesn't
understand
why
you
would
need
to
terminate
a
SCSI
bus.
Likewise,
if
I
find
someone
who
knows
SANs
backward
and
forward
and
can
do
near
magic
tricks
with
terabytes
of
data,
I'm
not
going
to
scoff
at
him
for
not
understanding
the
difference
between
a
DIV
and
a
SPAN.
I'm
certainly
not
going
to
scoff
at
either
of
them
for
being
clueless
about
when
to
use
a
quicksort
or
a
heapsort.
They
both
hold
down
different
roles
of
real
value
in
my
life.
Instead
of
scoffing,
I'll
just
go
in
search
of
a
C
programmer.
They're
easier
to
find
today
than
in
the
80's.
They
just
also
happen
to
be
in
higher
demand.
Back
in
the
early
80s,
it
was
possible
for
someone
to
understand
most
of
the
components
in
his
or
her
PC.
Today,
there
are
new
protocols,
new
connectors,
and
new
chips
released
faster
than
any
one
person
can
learn
them.
I
think
there
is
both
risk
and
opportunity
in
this.
There
is
both
an
element
of
fear
and
an
element
of
hope.
The
fear
is
that
people
will
forget
how
to
maintain
and
troubleshoot
the
middle
and
lower
layers
of
complexity.
The
hope
is
that
our
brightest
young
people
will
take
some
of
the
cooler
things
we've
created
at
the
higher
levels
of
complexity
and
create
something
amazing
there.
The
risk
is
that
their
creations
will
collapse
underneath
themselves
when
nobody
remembers
how
to
maintain
and
troubleshoot
the
lower
levels.
There
are
ways
to
mitigate
the
risk
and
our
society
is
doing
well
at
it.
The
open
source
camps
do
this
by
involving
real
humans
at
every
layer
and
then
by
publishing
the
discussion
for
all
to
see.
The
proprietary
camps
do
it
by
showing
up
at
college
career
fairs,
helping
people
understand
their
opportunities,
and
putting
real
money
forward
to
hire
and
train
the
smart
ones.
These
are
not
perfect
solutions,
but
they're
certainly
keeping
the
problem
at
bay.
Another
aspect
to
the
"the
future
of
programming"
and
how
it
pertains
to
our
young
folks
is
the
saturation
of
users
at
different
IQ
levels.
In
1981,
I
suspect
that
there
were
very
few
kids
with
an
IQ
less
than
110
that
spent
much
time
on
a
computer.
You
simply
couldn't
accomplish
much,
except
a
few
tasks
you
could
memorize
or
read
from
a
book.
Most
of
those
tasks
did
very
boring
things,
unless
you
were
smart
enough
to
understand
the
possibilities
beyond
that.
Today,
you
can
put
a
computer
in
front
of
a
kid
with
an
80
IQ
and
he'll
be
entertained
and
even
enriched
for
years
to
come.
Most
importantly,
though,
there
are
much
higher
percentages
of
kids
with
above
average
IQs
that
spend
many
hours
a
day
in
front
of
a
computer.
Sure,
they
don't
spend
their
time
programming
them,
but
at
least
they
are
only
a
step
or
two
away
from
doing
it.
In
1981,
probably
wouldn't
have
even
had
a
computer.
So,
if
your
real
concern
is
about
the
"lost
art"
of
computer
programming,
the
solution
is
to
embrace
the
medium.
Produce
interesting
and
exciting
content
about
programming
that
kids
will
want
to
consume.
Post
it
on
YouTube,
MySpace,
FaceBook,
etc.
Make
it
easy
for
them
to
share
it
with
all
their
friends.
They're
only
a
few
clicks
away
from
trying
their
hands
at
programming.
It's
certainly
better
than
having
to
convince
their
parents
to
shell
out
$3K
for
a
1981
computer
that
even
the
parents
didn't
know
how
to
use.
In
my
opinion,
this
outreach
is
already
happening.
It
certainly
wouldn't
hurt
if
it
happened
more,
though.
The
key
to
remember
is
that
we
need
to
recruit
people
at
every
level
of
complexity.
Just
as
it's
important
to
recruit
people
who
will
someday
contribute
to
the
Linux
kernel,
we
need
to
recruit
people
who
will
author
the
3D
worlds
that
will
eclipse
our
2D
movies
in
popularity.
Personally,
I
think
our
most
urgent
need
is
people
who
"get
it"
regarding
semantic
networks
and
the
convergence
of
global
data.
The
time
that
our
kids
are
spending
in
"information
overload"
and
attempting
to
consume
more
media
than
they
can
understand
is
actually
furthering
this
goal.
The
smartest
of
them
are
learning
the
patterns
that
sift
useful
from
useless.
They
are
understanding
how
to
make
superficial
opinions
about
a
link's
contents
in
mere
seconds.
You
might
call
it
attention
deficit
disorder.
I
call
it
evolution.
You
can
choose
to
see
modern
PCs
as
either
a
distraction
from
success
or
a
superhighway
to
attract
thousands
of
new
recruits.
It's
both,
simultaneously.
It's
up
to
us
to
build
the
signposts
along
the
road.
If
you
want
new
recruits,
you've
got
to
make
it
interesting
and
help
them
see
why
they
would
want
that
path.
Show
them
the
ways
they
can
improve
the
world,
further
cross-cultural
understanding,
and
create
global
prosperity.
The
talented
ones
will
take
that
bait
and
create
things
we've
barely
dreamed
of.
Kind
regards,
Justis
Peters
http://www.linkedin.com/in/justis
--
TriLUG
mailing
list
:
http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
TriLUG
Organizational
FAQ
:
http://trilug.org/faq/
TriLUG
Member
Services
FAQ
:
http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/
More information about the TriLUG
mailing list