Seneca Students To Expand Open Source Expertise within Fedora Project

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 05/29/08

Seneca College will expand the use of open source software in its curriculum through the Fedora Project, a Red Hat-sponsored and community-supported open source collaboration. Seneca College students in the School of Computer Studies will work within the Fedora Project while learning open source development and administration.

A new grant funds a liaison position within the School of Computer Studies to work with Fedora Project members to identify opportunities for student involvement and to guide students as they integrate into the community. This model was developed at Seneca and will be incorporated into several programs beginning with the Linux/Unix System Administration (LUX) program, a one-year graduate certificate. Fedora projects will be integrated into academic coursework, used as major projects or funded through government grants.

Chris Tyler from Seneca College's School of Computer Studies is a long-time Fedora contributor and will serve as lead professor on this initiative. He has used Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Fedora for a decade and is the author of two books, Fedora Linux: A Complete Guide to Red Hat's Community Distribution and X Power Tools.

"At Seneca, we strive to offer our students the most cutting-edge courses to prepare them for the future of the technology industry," said Rick Miner, president of the college. "We see open source and Linux as compelling options for success in the software industry, and including Fedora in coursework will provide our students with a valuable skill set to excel when they enter into the workforce."

The Fedora community contributes everything it builds back to the open source world.

"Fedora and open source breeds a culture of contribution rather than just consumption," said Paul Frields, Fedora Project Leader at Red Hat. "In the same vein, we hope this partnership will not only benefit the students at Seneca College, but will also provide a program and curriculum that is transferable to other academic institutions to develop future leaders as the demand for open source continues to increase worldwide."

Seneca College has eight campuses in the Toronto, Canada area.