[Courses] [Postgresql] My Intro and comments

[Beatriz Botero]

Hi:

Hallo:
I would like to introduce myself: I was born in Colombia, and I am 
architect, 67 years old. I live in Germany since eight years  (long 
story).  I finished my univertiy studies en the sixties. I work with 
computers since more or less twenty years: starting with DOS, than 
Windows and now Linux.
I began with SuseLinux seven years ago, when I came to Germany. After a 
short time I went to Linux from the Scratch (LFS), a self compiked 
system, which I learned through the Linux User Group -LUG- in our city. 
I think this system is better than any distribution: It can be made as 
it is needed and you learn a lot of linux and software in general 
through the compilation process.

I also use databases, mostly "mysql",  but I don't have up to now a 
deeper knowledge about their functionality. I have a lot of folkart 
magazines and patterns I would like to organize in a database, up to now 
I use the "staroffice spreadsheet". I think, "Postgress" could be 
perhaps a better opportunity.

Kind regards
Beatriz


Michelle Murrain said the following on 11/21/07 18:02:
> Hi All,
>
> I should introduce myself, and explain why I wanted to teach this 
> course. I also wanted to comment on what folks had written so far.
>
> I have been using Linux since 1995, and PostgreSQL since it was called 
> Postgres95. I did a bit of early web programming using PG and what was 
> then called PHP/FI (and subsequently just became PHP). I switched to 
> perl in 1998 or so, because it was (at the time) so much more mature and 
> feature rich, but I never really switched to MySQL - I've been using PG 
> all this time.
>
> I have worn many hats in my work life - from academic to web database 
> developer, to my current role - coordinator of a nonprofit focused on 
> open source software, and a strategic technology consultant. I have, in 
> many ways always remained an educator, and I thought that I'd like to 
> start providing courses on the net. So this is my first.
>
> There are folks in this course who haven't used databases at all, and 
> those who are intimately familiar with SQL and database management, who 
> want to learn about PG, and hone their advanced skills (and may well 
> know quite a bit more than I do.) For a teacher, that's quite a 
> challenging range! I'll warn those of you on the upper ends that a lot 
> of this will be geared more toward the beginners - ultimately, I want 
> people to become familiar with using a database, and familiar with what 
> PG has to offer.
>
> That said, I'll also try to incorporate some more advanced (or "extra 
> credit") assignments to stretch some of you all on the upper end. And, 
> please feel free to chime in with your own knowledge and expertise when 
> you'd like! I'd welcome it.
>
> Another reminder: really, THERE ARE NO DUMB QUESTONS! This is, of 
> course, one of the hallmarks of the way Linuxchix works - but I want to 
> make sure that people know and understand that, and don't feel intimidated.
>
> The range of projects looks very interesting - I'm glad there are both 
> web and desktop projects, and web projects using a range of languages. 
> Because it's what I know, I'll be focusing examples more on perl/php 
> (probably some python), and on the desktop - ODBC and open office. But 
> it would be great to hear about people's experiences doing other things, 
> like using Rails, or Amarok (that is *such* a good idea, Valorie, I 
> can't wait to find out how it works.)
>
> So, let's keep going! I'm looking forward to reading more intros and 
> assignments.
>
> Peace,
> Michelle
>