UberStudent
Encyclopedia
UberStudent is a free and opensource computer operating system and collection of programs for higher education
and college-bound secondary
students, their teach
ers and schools, and research
ers, knowledge worker
s, and lifelong learners
.
Dubbing itself "Linux for Learners," UberStudent describes itself as "a cohesive academic success curriculum integrated into an installable, easy-to-use, and full-featured learning platform" aimed at increasing student learning and lifelong computer fluency. Its additional aim is to increase the adoption of free and open source
computing platforms, like itself, within higher education and secondary schools. As of it's version 1.0, UberStudent features a full edition for modern personal computers (PCs) and Intel Macintoshes and a lightweight edition designed for a variety of older, low-specification computers.
UberStudent Full Edition has been described by reviewers as "highly in tune with student needs," "loaded with student-friendly tools and customizations," "perfect for the higher education environment,"
succeeding at its aims "with aplomb, elegance, and power," "a smart pick for getting your actual schoolwork done," and overall "fantastic and delicious." It is the only Linux distribution
to have received a positive review for student desktop computing
in The Chronicle of Higher Education
, who cited UberStudent's completeness for doing core academic work
, user-friendliness
, and free and open source nature. As one among several dozen Linux operating systems designed for education, UberStudent has been described as "fundamentally the best." 60 days after UberStudent's official 15 July 2010 release of UberStudent 1.0 Cicero Full Edition, its first non-beta, DistroWatch
ranked it the number one most popular Linux distribution for education worldwide and the 32nd most popular overall out of the 316 varied distributions tracked by the organization. As of September 2011, UberStudent held the number one Page Rank slot for Google search
es done with the terms "student" and "Linux," largely due to the amount of websites ending with .edu
that had linked to the uberstudent.org domain name
.
and lead developer
is Stephen Ewen, a U.S.-based educator who specializes in postsecondary
literacy
, academic success strategies, and educational technology
. He began UberStudent, he has said, as "a way to place a set of smart and dedicated computing tools, and just the right amount of support, into the hands of students, whether currently within higher education or preparing for it in secondary school." His stated goal through UberStudent is for students to "learn to really excel at the core skills and habits they need to become everything they can academically be, and on into professional life." Ewen has stated that UberStudent is, in part, inspired by his own experiences achieving top academic performance with the assistance of educational technology
.
Ewen has described UberStudent's overarching design
philosophy as one that provides a "unified system for learning, doing, and teaching academic success." Within this, he has said that UberStudent takes what he calls a "core academic skills" approach, which he has delineated as "the skills in research
and writing
, studying
, and self-management
required of students across all academic major
s." He has stated that UberStudent can be "easily extended" for specific majors via additional software. Ewen has additionally asserted that, in part due to UberStudent's open source
and cross-platform
nature, as well as its Unix-like
base, it is geared to produce "computer fluency" among its users as a "more or less natural outcome."
Ewen has argued that academic institution
s can increase both their student learning outcomes
and economic efficiency by more broadly adopting open source application
and system software
for everyday student academic computing needs. He has additionally argued for academic institutions to increase their involvement in developing
open source tools, such as UberStudent, citing successes such as the bibliographic manager Zotero
by George Mason University
, and the concept and content mapping application VUE (Visual Understanding Environment)
by Tufts University
, two among UberStudent's set of core academic programs.
so its adopters can avoid vendor lock-in, whether with Windows, Mac OS X
, or Linux
. The popular tech review site, Dedoimedo, reviewed UberStudent as containing a "superb" collection of "smartly selected" programs, "probably the best when it comes to serious work," with each "stitched into the fabric of the operating system." Tech columnist Jack Wallen said UberStudent "contains so many education-specific tools you will be spending your first days with it just marveling at what the developers have packed into one single operating system."
UberStudent's core programs for academic work are clustered within an applications menu entry, Education, where they are organized by sub-categories, including for Reading, Research and Writing, Self-Management, Study Aids, Subjects, and Utilities, which themselves have sub-categories. In addition to its academic-specific application set, reviewers have noted UberStudent's inclusion of templates for academic work and "tons" of on-board how-to guides as "welcome additions" that are "often missing" from other operating systems. UberStudent also contains a full range of student-oriented programs in the Audio/Video, Games, Graphics, Internet, and several other categories. Its "Cloud Menu" contains cloud computing
applications for a full array of tasks, and has been described as containing additions "you don't often see elsewhere." The UberStudent website uses Moodle
to offer support and additional how-to
s to its users, which can be linked to within the operating system.
Within its stated intent to couple user-friendliness
with security
and stability, UberStudent production releases, such as version 1.0, are based on an Ubuntu
Long Term Stable core with additions from Linux Mint
and MEPIS
, which each stem from the Debian
branch of Linux
. UberStudent also includes numerous self-developed programs, including ones for one-click-installation of multimedia codecs
and for tabulating grade point average. UberStudent utilizes the Synaptic Package Manager, Deb file format
, and numerous software repositories
beyond those available through Ubuntu and Debian to manage and update its platform.
or pre-made disc that employs the GNOME
2.32 desktop environment, and a lightweight edition distributed as a CD image
or pre-made disc that employs the LXDE
desktop environment. The full edition is aimed toward modern PC
s and Intel Macs, while UberStudent's developers caution that the lightweight edition is intended for older and low-specification computers and necessarily lacks many of the features of the full edition. The intent behind the lightweight edition, according to its developers, is "to further close local and global digital divide
s" by putting "important tools into the hands of students who might not otherwise benefit from them." Both editions are designed around the same "core academic skills" philosophy and can be run as a live disc
or from a USB drive
, installed normally to a hard disk drive on one's computer, or as a thin client
. Both editions are built around an Ubuntu 10.04 LTS core.
Ewen has criticized the designs of both the Ubuntu Unity
and GNOME 3 Shell Linux desktop environments, both released after UberStudent 1.0, as hindrances to student academic computing productivity. In a 2011 April Fools' Day
satire
, he announced an "UberStudent Dumbed Down Edition" featuring the GNOME 3 Shell. Pointing to what he called "the enforced helplessness" leading to "learned helplessness" that he says the GNOME 3 developers designed into their new desktop environment, he stated that the intent behind the (spoof
) UberStudent edition was to "obscure what is not obvious and easy so it can be continually avoided" by students and thus never learned. In a May 2011 interview, Ewen expanded his criticisms of Unity and GNOME 3 by citing specific usability
issues, and stated that UberStudent had no plans to adopt either Unity or the GNOME 3 Shell in its next release, version 2.0.
. UberStudent's version 0.9, the first beta, was released on 15 January 2010 and named after Thales
. Version 1.0, released on 15 July 2010, was named after Cicero
. 1.0 also had a brief pre-release edition, once inadvertently reviewed as the release edition. UberStudent 1.0 Cicero Lightweight Edition was released on 4 September 2010 and inherited the name Cicero from the full edition. According to an 11 June 2011 announcement by Ewen, UberStudent's next release will be called UberStudent 2.0 Aristotle
.
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
and college-bound secondary
Secondary education
Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
students, their teach
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
ers and schools, and research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
ers, knowledge worker
Knowledge worker
Knowledge workers in today's workforce are individuals who are valued for their ability to act and communicate with knowledge within a specific subject area. They will often advance the overall understanding of that subject through focused analysis, design and/or development. They use research...
s, and lifelong learners
Lifelong learning
Lifelong learning is the continuous building of skills and knowledge throughout the life of an individual. It occurs through experiences encountered in the course of a lifetime...
.
Dubbing itself "Linux for Learners," UberStudent describes itself as "a cohesive academic success curriculum integrated into an installable, easy-to-use, and full-featured learning platform" aimed at increasing student learning and lifelong computer fluency. Its additional aim is to increase the adoption of free and open source
Free and open source software
Free and open-source software or free/libre/open-source software is software that is liberally licensed to grant users the right to use, study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code...
computing platforms, like itself, within higher education and secondary schools. As of it's version 1.0, UberStudent features a full edition for modern personal computers (PCs) and Intel Macintoshes and a lightweight edition designed for a variety of older, low-specification computers.
UberStudent Full Edition has been described by reviewers as "highly in tune with student needs," "loaded with student-friendly tools and customizations," "perfect for the higher education environment,"
succeeding at its aims "with aplomb, elegance, and power," "a smart pick for getting your actual schoolwork done," and overall "fantastic and delicious." It is the only Linux distribution
Linux distribution
A Linux distribution is a member of the family of Unix-like operating systems built on top of the Linux kernel. Such distributions are operating systems including a large collection of software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players, and database applications...
to have received a positive review for student desktop computing
Desktop computer
A desktop computer is a personal computer in a form intended for regular use at a single location, as opposed to a mobile laptop or portable computer. Early desktop computers are designed to lay flat on the desk, while modern towers stand upright...
in The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty, staff members and administrators....
, who cited UberStudent's completeness for doing core academic work
Academia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
, user-friendliness
Usability
Usability is the ease of use and learnability of a human-made object. The object of use can be a software application, website, book, tool, machine, process, or anything a human interacts with. A usability study may be conducted as a primary job function by a usability analyst or as a secondary job...
, and free and open source nature. As one among several dozen Linux operating systems designed for education, UberStudent has been described as "fundamentally the best." 60 days after UberStudent's official 15 July 2010 release of UberStudent 1.0 Cicero Full Edition, its first non-beta, DistroWatch
DistroWatch
DistroWatch is a website which provides news, popularity rankings, and other general information about various Linux distributions as well as other free software/open source Unix-like operating systems such as OpenSolaris, MINIX and BSD. It now contains information on several hundred distributions...
ranked it the number one most popular Linux distribution for education worldwide and the 32nd most popular overall out of the 316 varied distributions tracked by the organization. As of September 2011, UberStudent held the number one Page Rank slot for Google search
Google search
Google or Google Web Search is a web search engine owned by Google Inc. Google Search is the most-used search engine on the World Wide Web, receiving several hundred million queries each day through its various services....
es done with the terms "student" and "Linux," largely due to the amount of websites ending with .edu
.edu
The domain name edu is a sponsored top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet. The "domain is intended for accredited post-secondary educational U.S. institutions" and this intention is strictly enforced....
that had linked to the uberstudent.org domain name
Domain name
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
.
Origin and design
UberStudent's founderEntrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
and lead developer
Software developer
A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
is Stephen Ewen, a U.S.-based educator who specializes in postsecondary
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
, academic success strategies, and educational technology
Educational technology
Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources." The term educational technology is often associated with, and encompasses, instructional theory and...
. He began UberStudent, he has said, as "a way to place a set of smart and dedicated computing tools, and just the right amount of support, into the hands of students, whether currently within higher education or preparing for it in secondary school." His stated goal through UberStudent is for students to "learn to really excel at the core skills and habits they need to become everything they can academically be, and on into professional life." Ewen has stated that UberStudent is, in part, inspired by his own experiences achieving top academic performance with the assistance of educational technology
Educational technology
Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources." The term educational technology is often associated with, and encompasses, instructional theory and...
.
Ewen has described UberStudent's overarching design
Software design
Software design is a process of problem solving and planning for a software solution. After the purpose and specifications of software are determined, software developers will design or employ designers to develop a plan for a solution...
philosophy as one that provides a "unified system for learning, doing, and teaching academic success." Within this, he has said that UberStudent takes what he calls a "core academic skills" approach, which he has delineated as "the skills in research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
and writing
Academic writing
In academia, writing and publishing is conducted in several sets of forms and genres. This is a list of genres of academic writing. It is a short summary of the full spectrum of critical & academic writing. It does not cover the variety of critical approaches that can be applied when writing about...
, studying
Study Skills
Study skills or study strategies are approaches applied to learning. They are generally critical to success in school, are considered essential for acquiring good grades, and are useful for learning throughout one's life....
, and self-management
Self-management
Self-management means different things in different fields:* In business, education, and psychology, self-management refers to methods, skills, and strategies by which individuals can effectively direct their own activities toward the achievement of objectives, and includes goal setting, decision...
required of students across all academic major
Academic major
In the United States and Canada, an academic major or major concentration is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits....
s." He has stated that UberStudent can be "easily extended" for specific majors via additional software. Ewen has additionally asserted that, in part due to UberStudent's open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
and cross-platform
Cross-platform
In computing, cross-platform, or multi-platform, is an attribute conferred to computer software or computing methods and concepts that are implemented and inter-operate on multiple computer platforms...
nature, as well as its Unix-like
Unix-like
A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification....
base, it is geared to produce "computer fluency" among its users as a "more or less natural outcome."
Ewen has argued that academic institution
Academic institution
Academic institution is an educational institution dedicated to education and research, which grants academic degrees. See also academy and university.- Types of academic institutions include :...
s can increase both their student learning outcomes
Outcome-based education
Outcome-based education is a recurring education reform model. It is a student-centered learning philosophy that focuses on empirically measuring student performance, which are called outcomes. OBE contrasts with traditional education, which primarily focuses on the resources that are available...
and economic efficiency by more broadly adopting open source application
Application software
Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
and system software
System software
System software is computer software designed to operate the computer hardware and to provide a platform for running application software.The most basic types of system software are:...
for everyday student academic computing needs. He has additionally argued for academic institutions to increase their involvement in developing
Software development
Software development is the development of a software product...
open source tools, such as UberStudent, citing successes such as the bibliographic manager Zotero
Zotero
Zotero is free, open source reference management software to manage bibliographic data and related research materials . Notable features include web browser integration, online syncing, generation of in-text citations, footnotes and bibliographies, as well as integration with the word processors...
by George Mason University
George Mason University
George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...
, and the concept and content mapping application VUE (Visual Understanding Environment)
VUE (Visual Understanding Environment)
VUE is a free, open source concept mapping application written in Java. The application is developed by the Academic Technology group at Tufts University. VUE is licensed under the Educational Community License. VUE 3.0, the latest release, was funded under a grant from the Andrew W...
by Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
, two among UberStudent's set of core academic programs.
Software and system
Nearly all of UberStudent's software is free and open source and its core programs cross-platformCross-platform
In computing, cross-platform, or multi-platform, is an attribute conferred to computer software or computing methods and concepts that are implemented and inter-operate on multiple computer platforms...
so its adopters can avoid vendor lock-in, whether with Windows, Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, or Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
. The popular tech review site, Dedoimedo, reviewed UberStudent as containing a "superb" collection of "smartly selected" programs, "probably the best when it comes to serious work," with each "stitched into the fabric of the operating system." Tech columnist Jack Wallen said UberStudent "contains so many education-specific tools you will be spending your first days with it just marveling at what the developers have packed into one single operating system."
UberStudent's core programs for academic work are clustered within an applications menu entry, Education, where they are organized by sub-categories, including for Reading, Research and Writing, Self-Management, Study Aids, Subjects, and Utilities, which themselves have sub-categories. In addition to its academic-specific application set, reviewers have noted UberStudent's inclusion of templates for academic work and "tons" of on-board how-to guides as "welcome additions" that are "often missing" from other operating systems. UberStudent also contains a full range of student-oriented programs in the Audio/Video, Games, Graphics, Internet, and several other categories. Its "Cloud Menu" contains cloud computing
Cloud computing
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility over a network ....
applications for a full array of tasks, and has been described as containing additions "you don't often see elsewhere." The UberStudent website uses Moodle
Moodle
Moodle is a free source e-learning software platform, also known as a Course Management System, Learning Management System, or Virtual Learning Environment...
to offer support and additional how-to
How-to
A how-to or a how to is an informal, often short, description of how to accomplish some specific task. A how-to is usually meant to help non-experts, may leave out details that are only important to experts, and may also be greatly simplified from an overall discussion of the topic...
s to its users, which can be linked to within the operating system.
Within its stated intent to couple user-friendliness
Usability
Usability is the ease of use and learnability of a human-made object. The object of use can be a software application, website, book, tool, machine, process, or anything a human interacts with. A usability study may be conducted as a primary job function by a usability analyst or as a secondary job...
with security
Computer security
Computer security is a branch of computer technology known as information security as applied to computers and networks. The objective of computer security includes protection of information and property from theft, corruption, or natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to...
and stability, UberStudent production releases, such as version 1.0, are based on an Ubuntu
Ubuntu (operating system)
Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution and distributed as free and open source software. It is named after the Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu...
Long Term Stable core with additions from Linux Mint
Linux Mint
Linux Mint is a Linux-based computer operating system best known for its usability and ease of installation, particularly for users with no previous GNU/Linux experience...
and MEPIS
MEPIS
MEPIS is a set of Linux distributions, distributed as Live CDs that can be installed onto a hard disk drive.MEPIS is developed and maintained by an active community begun by Warren Woodford and the eponymous company MEPIS LLC....
, which each stem from the Debian
Debian
Debian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
branch of Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
. UberStudent also includes numerous self-developed programs, including ones for one-click-installation of multimedia codecs
Codec
A codec is a device or computer program capable of encoding or decoding a digital data stream or signal. The word codec is a portmanteau of "compressor-decompressor" or, more commonly, "coder-decoder"...
and for tabulating grade point average. UberStudent utilizes the Synaptic Package Manager, Deb file format
Deb (file format)
deb is the extension of the Debian software package format and the most often used name for such binary packages. Like the "Deb" part of the term Debian, it originates from the name of Debra, erstwhile girlfriend and now ex-wife of Debian's founder Ian Murdock.Debian packages are also used in...
, and numerous software repositories
Software repository
A software repository is a storage location from which software packages may be retrieved and installed on a computer.- Discussion :Many software publishers and other organizations maintain servers on the Internet for this purpose, either free of charge or for a subscription fee...
beyond those available through Ubuntu and Debian to manage and update its platform.
Editions
As of version 1.0, UberStudent has a full edition distributed as a DVD imageDisk image
A disk image is a single file or storage device containing the complete contents and structure representing a data storage medium or device, such as a hard drive, tape drive, floppy disk, CD/DVD/BD, or USB flash drive, although an image of an optical disc may be referred to as an optical disc image...
or pre-made disc that employs the GNOME
GNOME
GNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
2.32 desktop environment, and a lightweight edition distributed as a CD image
Disk image
A disk image is a single file or storage device containing the complete contents and structure representing a data storage medium or device, such as a hard drive, tape drive, floppy disk, CD/DVD/BD, or USB flash drive, although an image of an optical disc may be referred to as an optical disc image...
or pre-made disc that employs the LXDE
LXDE
LXDE is a free and open source desktop environment for Unix and other POSIX compliant platforms, such as Linux or BSD. The goal of the project is to provide a desktop environment that is fast and energy efficient...
desktop environment. The full edition is aimed toward modern PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
s and Intel Macs, while UberStudent's developers caution that the lightweight edition is intended for older and low-specification computers and necessarily lacks many of the features of the full edition. The intent behind the lightweight edition, according to its developers, is "to further close local and global digital divide
Digital divide
The Digital Divide refers to inequalities between individuals, households, business, and geographic areas at different socioeconomic levels in access to information and communication technologies and Internet connectivity and in the knowledge and skills needed to effectively use the information...
s" by putting "important tools into the hands of students who might not otherwise benefit from them." Both editions are designed around the same "core academic skills" philosophy and can be run as a live disc
Live CD
A live CD, live DVD, or live disc is a CD or DVD containing a bootable computer operating system. Live CDs are unique in that they have the ability to run a complete, modern operating system on a computer lacking mutable secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive...
or from a USB drive
Live USB
A live USB is a USB flash drive or a USB external hard disk drive containing a full operating system that can be booted. Live USBs are closely related to live CDs, but sometimes have the ability to persistently save settings and permanently install software packages back onto the USB device...
, installed normally to a hard disk drive on one's computer, or as a thin client
Thin client
A thin client is a computer or a computer program which depends heavily on some other computer to fulfill its traditional computational roles. This stands in contrast to the traditional fat client, a computer designed to take on these roles by itself...
. Both editions are built around an Ubuntu 10.04 LTS core.
Ewen has criticized the designs of both the Ubuntu Unity
Unity (user interface)
Unity is a shell interface for the GNOME desktop environment developed by Canonical Ltd for its Ubuntu operating system. Unity debuted in the netbook edition of Ubuntu 10.10. It is designed to make more efficient use of space given the limited screen size of netbooks, including, for example, a...
and GNOME 3 Shell Linux desktop environments, both released after UberStudent 1.0, as hindrances to student academic computing productivity. In a 2011 April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day is celebrated in different countries around the world on April 1 every year. Sometimes referred to as All Fools' Day, April 1 is not a national holiday, but is widely recognized and celebrated as a day when many people play all kinds of jokes and foolishness...
satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
, he announced an "UberStudent Dumbed Down Edition" featuring the GNOME 3 Shell. Pointing to what he called "the enforced helplessness" leading to "learned helplessness" that he says the GNOME 3 developers designed into their new desktop environment, he stated that the intent behind the (spoof
Spoof
-General uses:* Parody by imitation* Satire, a literary technique of writing or art which principally ridicules its subject* Forgery of goods or documents* Spoof , a guessing game...
) UberStudent edition was to "obscure what is not obvious and easy so it can be continually avoided" by students and thus never learned. In a May 2011 interview, Ewen expanded his criticisms of Unity and GNOME 3 by citing specific usability
Usability
Usability is the ease of use and learnability of a human-made object. The object of use can be a software application, website, book, tool, machine, process, or anything a human interacts with. A usability study may be conducted as a primary job function by a usability analyst or as a secondary job...
issues, and stated that UberStudent had no plans to adopt either Unity or the GNOME 3 Shell in its next release, version 2.0.
Releases and naming
According to Ewen, "UberStudent dubs each of its major releases after a famous historical thinker," a practice he describes as "only fitting" in light of UberStudent's educational mission. So far, the thinkers have been ancient GreekAncient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
. UberStudent's version 0.9, the first beta, was released on 15 January 2010 and named after Thales
Thales
Thales of Miletus was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Miletus in Asia Minor, and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regard him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition...
. Version 1.0, released on 15 July 2010, was named after Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
. 1.0 also had a brief pre-release edition, once inadvertently reviewed as the release edition. UberStudent 1.0 Cicero Lightweight Edition was released on 4 September 2010 and inherited the name Cicero from the full edition. According to an 11 June 2011 announcement by Ewen, UberStudent's next release will be called UberStudent 2.0 Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
.
External links
Also see
- List of third-party Ubuntu-based Linux distributions
- EdubuntuEdubuntuEdubuntu, also previously known as Ubuntu Education Edition, is an official derivative of the Ubuntu operating system designed for use in classrooms inside schools, homes and communities....
- EdtechEdtechAcronym of Education Technology connected with tools for e-learning. Currently Edtech specialists are exploring such topics as integrating Blogs, Podcasts, Wikis, and other types of interactive technologies into the classroom to engage students and enhance the learning experience.EdTech is a...