--- doc/build/Attic/faq.html 2003/01/29 22:14:34 1.8 +++ doc/build/Attic/faq.html 2003/02/03 18:18:03 1.10 @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ - + @@ -28,260 +28,6 @@ a more complete FAQ, you are strongly en

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FAQ

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1. What is TtH and how do I know I have it? -
2. So I think I'm done with the LON-CAPA installation. -Now what do I do? How do I begin? -
3. Why do I have to worry about choosing a "role"? -
4. What kind of computer and operating will this work -on? -
4a. Will this work on BSD Unix? -
4b. Will this work on Mac OS X? -
4c. Will this work on an old SPARC, Solaris, SGI, NeXT, or -DEC machine that is collecting cobwebs in my university's technology center? -
5. What does LON-CAPA stand for? -
6. Who wrote this code? -
7. Where is this software being used? -
8. What are current plans for the installation? -
9. How do I upgrade? -
10. What are RPMs? -
11. How do I know this will be a secure solution for -my users? -
12. How do I contribute code? -
13. Is LON-CAPA owned by any umbrella company? -
14. What are the costs? -
15. What kind of computer do I need? -
16. Where can I learn more about the technical -ideas surrounding the LON-CAPA project? -
17. How are you similar or different to -WebCT, Blackboard, etc? -
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1. What is TtH and how -do I know I have it? -

-TtH = TeX-to-HTML. -You should have a file called tth.so on your system. If you do not -have it (should be located somewhere underneath /usr/lib/perl5), then you -should download and install the binary - -http://install.lon-capa.org/resources/tth.so -into your /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.???/ directory (5.??? corresponds -to the version number of your perl distribution). -

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2. So I think I'm done -with the LON-CAPA installation. -Now what do I do? How do I begin? -

-You will first need to set up a domain coordinator on your machine. -See loncapa/doc/how_to_domain_coordinator.txt in your CVS repository checkout. -After this, it is time to play with the interface. We do not -yet have a user manual, but -Felicia is helping answer -questions related to the LON-CAPA web interface. -

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3. Why do I have to -worry about choosing a "role"? -

-A critical feature of the LON-CAPA interface is the idea that a user -must select a role before doing anything further inside the educational -system. -

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4. What kind of -computer and operating will this work on? -

-The operating system LON-CAPA runs on is the Linux operating -system (RedHat 7.3 is the supported linux distribution). -LON-CAPA relies on an Intel-based architecture. In order to -move beyond this state of affairs, we are beginning to develop -a BSD-based solution, as well as a set of diagnostic scripts -which should verify LON-CAPA's performance on any computer platform. -

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-For full-time, classroom usage, an adequate LON-CAPA server -should be/have: -

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-A lesser machine can be used for toying around with LON-CAPA -(LON-CAPA will run for a single user on most any machine). -

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-LON-CAPA servers experience significant peaks of activity -before a homework submission deadline. To support these critical -peaks of activity, it is strongly advised that LON-CAPA machines -fit the above recommendation. -

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-If thousands of students start accessing the box as a web server... -you may want to consider more options. The design of the LON-CAPA -system is to naturally and transparently load-balance on multiple -computer clusters. So, a simple solution for running an entire -college campus is to just have an adequate plurality of LON-CAPA -servers rather than a single, particularly monstrous server. -

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-We like to think of high web server usage as "a good problem" though.. :) -

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4a. Will this work on -BSD? -

-Active development has begun for supporting LON-CAPA on FreeBSD version 4.7. -

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4b. Will this work on -Mac OS X? -

-No. Plans for Mac OS X involve waiting for completion of a FreeBSD version 4.7 -solution, as well as allowing Mac OS X more time to mature within the freeware -community. -

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4c. Will this work on -an old SPARC, Solaris, SGI, NeXT, or DEC machine that is collecting cobwebs in -my university's technology center? -

-No. The needs for predictable performance of a LON-CAPA system cause us -to emphasize support on a restricted set of platforms. We welcome developers -who would like to create porting solutions, however based on our timeline, -you are even more strongly encouraged to help develop the actual educational -software technology seen by students and instructors. -

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5. What does LON-CAPA -stand for? -

-The Learning Online Network with Computer-Assisted Personalized Approach. -

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-An eclectic variant is: Look! Our New Car Answers Pizza Appetites. -

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-Or something. -

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6. Who wrote this -code? -

-This code was originally written by a group of staff and graduate assistants -at Michigan State University. We are now receiving software contributions -from several other universities. The original technical design behind the -project was constructed by Gerd Kortemeyer. -

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7. Where is this -software being used? -

-The existing user sites are: -

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8. What are current -plans for the installation? -

-We have been able to run LON-CAPA on RedHat 6.2, 7.1, 7.2, Debian, and -Mandrake. -

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9. How do I -upgrade? -

-You must use CVS over the network. -Please click on the upgrade button at the top of this web page. -

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10. What are -RPMs? -

-Software packages that are (usually) very easy to install. RPM stands -for RedHat Packaging Manager software package. -

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11. How do I know -this will be a secure solution for my users? -

-LON-CAPA is distributed without warranty as described in the -license. -

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-We do think our security strategy is fairly robust. Important communications -are encrypted and the server-client validation is instantiated in such -a way as to prevent any remotely conceivable kind of spoofing. -

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12. How do I -contribute code? -

-Send a diff to -lon-capa-dev@mail.lon-capa.org. It helps if you give it context -with the -C option. For example, -

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-diff -u -C3 doc/build/faq.html doc/build/faq.html~ | mail lon-capa-dev@mail.lon-capa.org
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13. -Is LON-CAPA owned by any umbrella company? -

-No and hopefully never. That is not what we are about. We are about a -freeware-community oriented approach where the software features are directly -specified by the involved academic institutions and instructors. -

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14. -What are the costs? -

-Time & Money. You and/or somebody else needs the time to learn how to use -the LON-CAPA system. You and/or somebody else needs the money to set up and -maintain a working computer server(s) for your institution. -

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-More importantly, if your institution wants a sound future and a -increased ability to configure the LON-CAPA software, we recommend -that you assume some responsibility for contributing code to the -freeware project. -

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15. -What kind of computer do I need? -

-You need a RedHat 7.3 Intel-compatible computer. -For more information on RedHat compatible hardware, visit -http://hardware.redhat.com/hcl/. -We do not currently support the SPARC, SGI, Macintosh, or other hardware -architectures. -

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16. -Where can I learn more about the technical -ideas surrounding the LON-CAPA project? -

-You will find the technical manual to be very handy; please visit - -http://www.lon-capa.org/technical.html. -

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17. -How are you similar or different to -WebCT, Blackboard, etc? -

-I would suggest two major differences: -

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  1. In LON-CAPA, the user is the fundamental data object. -Other educational software systems seem to focus on the virtual -classroom as the fundamental data object.
    2. -
  2. I look at it like this. Many strictly profit-based enterprises aim to -significantly please 80% of their users. LON-CAPA started out, in the -beginning, aiming for a much higher percentage since the whole project -was about doing what no one had done before. -
    3. -