OPS235 - Curriculum Discussion

OPS235 Course Discussion

Course Overview (Purpose)

This project-based subject will teach students how to install and configure a Linux server. Further, students will learn how to connect to and communicate over a network in a controlled environment. They will learn how to manage their files on their system and how to set-up file and directory permissions. Students will manage basic system security and firewall settings. In order to configure their system, students will gain knowledge of a few basic Unix/Linux commands and be exposed to 'Shell' basics. Finally students will work with both text and graphical user interfaces.

Course Linkages (OPS Stream)

Direct:

• ULI101 (Prerequisite)
• OPS335 (Upon successful completion of OPS235)
• OPS435 (CTY)
• OPS535 (CTY)

Influence:

• NDD430 (CNS)
• SEC520 (CTY)

Common Concerns (Professor Observation)

Course Facutly:

• [ ULI101 Concerns ]
• [ OPS235 Concerns ]
• [ OPS335 Concerns ]
• [ OPS435 Concerns ]
• [ OPS535 Concerns ]

Previous Meetings:

• [ OPS Professor Meeting - Discussion - November 2013 ]

Course Improvement Suggestions

• [ OPS235 Short-Term ]

• [ OPS235 Long-Term ]

1. Scripting for Lab1. Lab 1 could be modified to have students generate a report regarding the collection of Linux information after an install. Certainly command substitution could be taught and to reinforce redirection >> to add content to a filename (i.e. not over-ride). It would be interesting to expose students to the zenity command to allow a menu to give user choice of report elements to include in the generated report. Perhaps a link to a "fancy" Bash shell script to generate a web-page so students can view the contents in a nice format. This scripting element could easily be added to assignment #1.
   
   [ Scripting Compatibility for Current OPS235 labs: (Week-by-week) ]
   
   
2. AODA Accomodation.
   
   Issue #2:
   
   A program called brltty.service. The file brltty.service is the application which going to make the braille device work. A bash file can be used to start the service brltty.service. A Seneca professor knowledge in Linux (Chris Tyler) stated, "that you cannot get the service to run without the script on Fedora." NOTE: It would be worthwhile to see if this works for other Linux distributions for Linux or Linux influenced courses in the CNS/CTY stream. NOTE: This service is that it cannot run in the graphical environment, it has to run on the terminal/console/command line. Whenever you switch to the GUI it says screen not in text mode and it stops working from there after. One example of a Baille device that this service works for is called: Optelec ALVA BC640 braille display. As for the model number I am not certain as to where you can find that information on it. The only thing I know is that it says it is running firmware 2.10. If you google the name there are not really any different ALVA BC640 or ALVA BC6 series braille displays by Optelec. Therefore, the model number may not be a necessary requirement to work in Linux.
   
   Also, would be nice to establish connection with Special Needs office with Linux support for assistance devices for students with special needs, and a link for each course (within resource support). Perhaps good idea to encourage faculty to visit and experience these devices.
   
   

   Braille Reader application: brltty
   
   Files for Braille Reader in Linux (Fedora):

   • Application to Run britty service: [ britty.service ]
   • bash shell script to start britty service: [ go.bash ]

   
   
   

• [ OPS235 Wish-List ]

Additional Resources

• OPS Stream Discussion