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! 4: <title>Frequently Asked Questions</title>
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! 10: <br />
! 11: <p align='center'>
! 12: <font face='helvetica'>
! 13: <font size='+3'>
! 14: Questions about anything and everything
! 15: </font>
! 16: </font>
! 17: </p>
! 18: <br />
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! 20: <!-- maintext start -->
! 21: <p><font size='+2'>FAQ</font></p>
! 22: <ul>
! 23: <br />1. <a href='#q1'>What is TtH and how do I know I have it?</a>
! 24: <br />2. <a href='#q2'>So I think I'm done with the LON-CAPA installation.
! 25: Now what do I do? How do I begin?</a>
! 26: <br />3. <a href='#q3'>Why do I have to worry about choosing a "role"?</a>
! 27: <br />4. <a href='#q4'>What kind of computer and operating will this work
! 28: on?</a>
! 29: <br />4a. <a href='#q4'>Will this work on BSD Unix?</a>
! 30: <br />4b. <a href='#q4'>Will this work on Mac OS X?</a>
! 31: <br />5. <a href='#q5'>What does LON-CAPA stand for?</a>
! 32: <br />6. <a href='#q6'>Who wrote this code?</a>
! 33: <br />7. <a href='#q7'>Where is this software being used?</a>
! 34: <br />8. <a href='#q8'>What are current plans for the installation?</a>
! 35: <br />9. <a href='#q9'>How do I upgrade?</a>
! 36: <br />10. <a href='#q10'>What are RPMs?</a>
! 37: <br />11. <a href='#q11'>How do I know this will be a secure solution for
! 38: my users?</a>
! 39: <br />12. <a href='#q12'>How do I contribute code?</a>
! 40: <br />13. <a href='#q13'>Is LON-CAPA owned by any umbrella company?</a>
! 41: <br />14. <a href='#q14'>What are the costs?</a>
! 42: <br />15. <a href='#q15'>What kind of computer do I need?</a>
! 43: <br />16. <a href='#q16'>Where can I learn more about the technical
! 44: ideas surrounding the LON-CAPA project?</a>
! 45: <br />17. <a href='#q17'>How are you similar or different to
! 46: WebCT, Blackboard, etc?</a>
! 47: </ul>
! 48: <hr />1. <font color='blue'><font size='+1'><a name='q1' />What is TtH and how do I know I have it?</font></font>
! 49: <p>
! 50: TtH = TeX-to-HTML.
! 51: You should have a file called tth.so on your system. If you do not
! 52: have it, then you should download and install the binary
! 53: http://install.lon-capa.org/3.1/binaries/tth.so
! 54: into your
! 55: /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.???/ directory.
! 56:
! 57: </p>
! 58: <hr />2. <font color='blue'><font size='+1'><a name='q2' />So I think I'm done with the LON-CAPA installation.
! 59: Now what do I do? How do I begin?</font></font>
! 60: <p>
! 61: You will first need to set up a domain coordinator on your machine.
! 62: See loncapa/doc/how_to_domain_coordinator.txt in your CVS repository checkout.
! 63: After this, it is time to play with the interface. We do not
! 64: yet have a user manual, but
! 65: <a href='mailto:felicia@lon-capa.org'>Felicia</a> is helping answer
! 66: questions related to the LON-CAPA web interface.
! 67: </p>
! 68: <hr />3. <font color='blue'><font size='+1'><a name='q3' />Why do I have to worry about choosing a "role"?</font></font>
! 69: <p>
! 70: A critical feature of the LON-CAPA interface is the idea that a user
! 71: must select a role before doing anything further inside the educational
! 72: system.
! 73:
! 74: </p>
! 75: <hr />4. <font color='blue'><font size='+1'><a name='q4' />What kind of computer and operating will this work
! 76: on?</font></font>
! 77: <p>
! 78: The operating system LON-CAPA runs on is the Linux operating
! 79: system. LON-CAPA relies on an Intel-based architecture.
! 80: </p>
! 81: <hr />4a. <font color='blue'><font size='+1'><a name='q4' />Will this work on BSD Unix?</font></font>
! 82: <p>
! 83: No.
! 84: </p>
! 85: <hr />4b. <font color='blue'><font size='+1'><a name='q4' />Will this work on Mac OS X?</font></font>
! 86: <p>
! 87: No.
! 88: </p>
! 89: <hr />5. <font color='blue'><font size='+1'><a name='q5' />What does LON-CAPA stand for?</font></font>
! 90: <p>
! 91: The Learning Online Network with Computer-Assisted Personalized Approach.
! 92: </p>
! 93: <p>
! 94: An eclectic variant is: Look! Our New Car Answers Pizza Appetites.
! 95: </p>
! 96: <hr />6. <font color='blue'><font size='+1'><a name='q6' />Who wrote this code?</font></font>
! 97: <p>
! 98: This code was originally written by a group of staff and graduate assistants
! 99: at Michigan State University. We are now receiving software contributions
! 100: from several other universities. The technical design behind the project
! 101: was constructed by Gerd Kortemeyer.
! 102: </p>
! 103: <hr />7. <font color='blue'><font size='+1'><a name='q7' />Where is this software being used?</font></font>
! 104: <hr />8. <font color='blue'><font size='+1'><a name='q8' />What are current plans for the installation?</font></font>
! 105: <p>
! 106: We have been able to run LON-CAPA on RedHat 6.2, 7.1, 7.2, Debian, and
! 107: Mandrake.
! 108: </p>
! 109: <hr />9. <font color='blue'><font size='+1'><a name='q9' />How do I upgrade?</font></font>
! 110: <p>
! 111: You must use CVS over the network.
! 112: Please click on the upgrade button at the top of this web page.
! 113: </p>
! 114: <hr />10. <font color='blue'><font size='+1'><a name='q10' />What are RPMs?</font></font>
! 115: <p>
! 116: Software packages that are (usually) very easy to install. RPM stands
! 117: for RedHat Packaging Manager software package.
! 118: </p>
! 119: <hr />11. <font color='blue'><font size='+1'><a name='q11' />How do I know this will be a secure solution for
! 120: my users?</font></font>
! 121: <p>
! 122: LON-CAPA is distributed without warranty as described in the
! 123: <a href='http://mycrow.mph.msu.edu/docs/license/index.html'>license</a>.
! 124: </p>
! 125: <p>
! 126: We do think our security strategy is fairly robust. Important communications
! 127: are encrypted and the server-client validation is instantiated in such
! 128: a way as to prevent any remotely conceivable kind of spoofing.
! 129: </p>
! 130: <hr />12. <font color='blue'><font size='+1'><a name='q12' />How do I contribute code?</font></font>
! 131: <p>
! 132: Send a diff to <a href='mailto:lon-capa-dev@mail.lon-capa.org'>
! 133: lon-capa-dev@mail.lon-capa.org</a>. It helps if you give it context
! 134: with the -C option. For example,
! 135: </p>
! 136: <pre>
! 137: diff -u -C3 doc/build/faq.html doc/build/faq.html~ | mail lon-capa-dev@mail.lon-capa.org
! 138: </pre>
! 139: <hr />13. <font color='blue'><font size='+1'><a name='q13' />
! 140: Is LON-CAPA owned by any umbrella company?</font></font>
! 141: <p>
! 142: No and hopefully never. That's not what we're about.
! 143: </p>
! 144: <hr />14. <font color='blue'><font size='+1'><a name='q14' />
! 145: What are the costs?</font></font>
! 146: <p>
! 147: Time & Money. You and/or somebody else needs the time to learn how to use
! 148: the LON-CAPA system. You and/or somebody else needs the money to set up and
! 149: maintain a working computer server(s) for your institution.
! 150: </p>
! 151: <p>
! 152: More importantly, if your institution wants a sound future and a
! 153: increased ability to configure the LON-CAPA software, we recommend
! 154: that you assume some responsibility for contributing code to the
! 155: freeware project.
! 156: </p>
! 157: <hr />15. <font color='blue'><font size='+1'><a name='q15' />
! 158: What kind of computer do I need?</font></font>
! 159: <p>
! 160: You need a RedHat 6.2-7.2 Intel-compatible computer.
! 161: We do not currently support the SPARC and SGI hardware architectures.
! 162: </p>
! 163: <hr />16. <font color='blue'><font size='+1'><a name='q16' />
! 164: Where can I learn more about the technical
! 165: ideas surrounding the LON-CAPA project?</font></font>
! 166: <p>
! 167: You will find the technical manual to be very handy; please visit
! 168: <a href='http://www.lon-capa.org/technical.html'>
! 169: http://www.lon-capa.org/technical.html</a>.
! 170: </p>
! 171: <hr />17. <font color='blue'><font size='+1'><a name='q17' />
! 172: How are you similar or different to
! 173: WebCT, Blackboard, etc?</font></font>
! 174: <p>
! 175: I would suggest two major differences
! 176: <ol>
! 177: <li>In LON-CAPA, the <strong>user</strong> is the fundamental data object.
! 178: Other educational software systems seem to focus on the <strong>virtual
! 179: classroom</strong> as the fundamental data object.</li>
! 180: <li>I look at it like this. Many strictly profit-based enterprises aim to
! 181: significantly please 80% of their users. LON-CAPA started out, in the
! 182: beginning, aiming for a much higher percentage since the whole project
! 183: was about doing what no one had done before.
! 184: </li>
! 185: </ol>
! 186: </p>
! 187: <!-- maintext end -->
! 188: </body>
! 189: </html>
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