CS41 - Linux Workstation Administration

David Morgan

Welcome

I am enthusiastic about linux. Because you chose to join this course you must be too. Good to have you here. It should be fun.

Course Particulars

Grading

A=90%    B=80%    C=70%    D=60%

Percentages are approximate. Grade determination can also depend on non-numeric factors and is ultimately at my discretion. There will be a mix of homework and examinations. Each will be weighted, and the weighted average used to determine course grade.

Website – http://homepage.smc.edu/morgan_david/ I will make extensive use of this website to communicate with you. You are responsible for awareness of the information posted there, e.g., announcements, grade reports, assignments. Access the website from any SMC computer lab, or an internet-connected browser anywhere.

Cheating – results in automatic zero on the affected work and automatic issue of an Academic Dishonesty Report Form. The Form enters your record along with regular grades to indicate your dishonesty. I am exerting an honest effort to contribute to your education for your benefit. If you intend to repay it with deception drop the class.

Makeup work – Assignments: not accepted after due date. Makeup tests: will not be given. If there are 3 or more tests and exactly one test is missed, at the end of the semester I will assign it a surrogate score, equal perhaps for example to the average of your other tests minus 10 penalty points (one letter grade). If more than one test is missed they will remain as zeros. (If there are not at least 3 tests held, no such mechanism applies.) Test grades will not be dropped. If the final exam is missed you will not pass the course.

Missing assignments – far more damaging to an artithmetic average than poor assignments. “D” or “F” is worth 50 or 60 points; “missing” assignment is worth 0. F is far better than zero. Turn in something rather than nothing.

Drop policy - be sure to formally drop the class if you decide to stop participating in it. Though I try to drop students whose continued participation is in doubt on the school’s prescribed drop dates, don't rely on it. Leaving yourself officially enrolled without submitting the required work results in an F. Please protect your academic record by dropping if you don't participate, and participating if you don't drop.

Absence – affects your grade. While the usual formula for calculating final grades has no explicit “absence factor,” absence affects grades two ways. Occasional absence limits your class awareness and subject-matter knowledge, which expresses itself in your work. And for chronic absence I will reduce the final calculated grade at my discretion (usually by one letter). If you enroll please attend; if you don’t attend please don’t enroll.

To reach me outside class: 

Other books worth special recommendation:

Understanding Unix/Linux Programming: A Guide To Theory and Practice, Bruce Molay, Prentice Hall, 2003

Linux Administration Handbook Evi Nemeth, Trent H. Hein, Garth Snyder
Prentice Hall, 2nd edition, Estimated Publication Date April 2005

Red Hat Fedora Linux 3 Bible, Christopher Negus, Wiley, Paperback, January 2005.

Learning Red Hat Enterprise Linux & Fedora, Bill McCarty, O'Reilly & Associates, April 2004

UNIX Unbounded: A Beginning Approach (4th Edition), Amir Afzal, Prentice Hall, October 2002

Beginning Linux Programming (3rd Edition), Neil Matthew and Richard Stones, Wrox Press, December 2003

UNIX Shells by Example, Ellie Quigley, Prentice Hall, Paperback, September 2004