Why Teach Unix?

Doyle, B. and Lister, R.

This paper examines computing academics' conceptions of the Unix operating system, and the purpose of teaching Unix. Interview transcripts from nine academics were analysed phenomenographically. A small number of qualitatively different conceptions of Unix were identified, within two broad categories. The first broad category manifested a technical approach to Unix. Within this broad category, the conceptions of Unix were, from the least to most sophisticated ! (1) Unix as a set of unrelated commands; (2) Unix as a command line interface superior to GUIs; and (3) Unix as a problem solving tool. The second broad category was a non technical conception of Unix, in which Unix was seen as a resource that is cheap, secure and robust. With regard to teaching Unix, two broad categories of reasons were identified ! practical and pedagogical. These results for teachers are broadly consistent with an earlier phenomenographic study of student conceptions of Unix

Cite as: Doyle, B. and Lister, R. (2007). Why Teach Unix?. In Proc. Ninth Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE2007), Ballarat, Australia. CRPIT, 66. Mann, S. and Simon, Eds. ACS. 19-25.

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