So dog days of summer are once again here in the northern reaches of the Linux blastosphere, and for countless young people, it means it’s camp time.
Some, of course, will take this time to pursue their sweaty fun with our friends in our friends’ ticks and mosquitoes, as well as the great out-door. The Linux Girl wishes for the hearty souls who pepper her to imprison her in the Arctic lair.
Many others would instead go to a code camp, and learn skills that would last them a lifetime.
‘This is appropriately specific’
Coding skills figure prominently in the news these days with surprising regularity, and the prevailing message is that anyone can – and indeed should – learn them.
Last week, it was launched with a Google-made Code of Code, an attempt to convince girls that programming is cool. Even President Obama recently expanded the virtues of programming.
Yet is programming really something that everyone should do? It is worth a consideration – and none other than Linus Torvalds has come to a conclusion.
“I really don’t believe that everyone should try to learn the code,” Torvalds said in a recent interview. “I think it’s reasonably specific, and no one really expects most people to do it. It’s not like learning to read and write and doing basic math.”
In the Blogsphere’s Punch Penguin Saloon below, Linux Girl couldn’t resist taking small polls to see how the opinions of FOSS fans compare.
‘It absurd absurd’
Google+ blogger Kevin O’Brien said, “I’m going to go with Linus on this.” “It seems absurd to me that there should be no room for little diversity in what people do.
“I think everyone has a desire to code and in that day and age I think a little basic literacy in computers is not a bad thing,” O’Brien said. “But that should not take the form of coding.”
Language and communication skills are most necessary to get out of school, O’Brien refined. “It is hard to succeed in any business without it.”
‘It is not a life skill’
Google+ blogger Brett Legary looked at it equally.
“I’m with Linus on this,” he told Linux Girl. “I mean, I wouldn’t expect everyone to become a nuclear engineer or a doctor or a financial analyst, so coding is the same thing in my mind.
“It’s a great option for a career (or even a hobby!), But it’s not life skills in cooking and so on,” said Legri.
“Why should everyone need to learn coding?” SoylentNews blogger Hairfat agreed. “Most people do not need to know coding, especially if the gods are doing their job and making software that works well and is intuitive.
“To say everyone should learn to code is as stupid as everyone should be able to do open-heart surgery, when a good 99.997 percent of people will never be in a position to use it,” Hairyoffet said.
Is Great Chef Made Greater
“Coding is a very useful skill, and I hope at least one of my children learns to code,” offered Chris Travers, a blogger who works on the Laserzer project. “However, I don’t think everyone should.”
Travers explained “This is a very commonly applied skill and is a skill that is useless in and out of any context.” “Coding can help solve problems, but it is not the only factor to any solution. Context matters.”
For those who want to pursue a career in the knowledge industry or a technical or scientific field, “some coding experience would be extremely helpful,” Travers concluded. “A great chef is made more and more knowing how to code? I doubt it.”
In fact, “many people don’t want and / or want to learn to code enough to write applications,” Google+ blogger Gonzalo Velasco c.
‘Some are just awful’
Google+ blogger Rodolfo Saenz suggested that coding is not for everyone, but that school computer classes should include it in order to identify new talent and “get them into their real business and a bright prospect is lost” , “Suggested Google+ blogger Rodolfo Saenz.
“Who knows how many Linus Torvalds or Steve Jobs have lost due to not being in touch with their actual business?” she added.
Consultant and Slashdot blogger Gerhard Mack said, “I think everyone should be presented with the opportunity to code, but I also don’t think everyone has a knack.”
“I see it just like anything else: some people are great at sports; some (like me) are terrible. Some people are great at music and can do amazing things with a little effort and some are just terrible No matter how much effort. ” They poured in.
“I’ll never forget the one person in my high school computer science class who, despite being a ‘straight A’ student in everything else, never managed to learn to code,” Mack said.
