[mesa-users] using MESA for education

[Richard Townsend]

It goes on the stick!

I’m going to start working on this — email me (anyone) if you would like to participate.

On Jun 9, 2014, at 12:04 PM, Bill Paxton <paxton at kitp.ucsb.edu> wrote:

> I love the name, "MESA-on-a-stick".  We have to do it just because the name is so great.  ;D
> 
> With that scheme, how do you deal with file output from mesa?   Where does it go?
> 
> 
> On Jun 9, 2014, at 9:55 AM, Dean Townsley wrote:
> 
>> I also saw having the students get familiar with the MESA environment as 
>> part of the learning process.  I think any piece of "real" custom 
>> scientific software, which a physics grad is not unlikely to encounter 
>> once they get a real job or go into research, is going to have a similar 
>> level of "special needs" for its required runtime environment or 
>> possibly moreso.  They may get lucky and just have the appropriate thing 
>> on hand or already installed for them, or they may be handed what some 
>> other person had set up but is no longer working and just have to figure 
>> it out.
>> 
>> But it concerns me that although I suggested the memory stick option to 
>> students who were starting with a windows-only PC, most of them opted 
>> for dual-boot instead, and without doing the appropriate preparatory 
>> backups and such.  It worked out for these particular students, but it 
>> could have gone very wrong.
>> 
>> As a result, I think more prudence on my part is critical so that they 
>> better understand the risks involved.  Realistically I should not help a 
>> student install linux dual boot on a PC until I have ensured that they 
>> have 1) backed up all their own data, 2) backed up or have installation 
>> media for any software they have on the computer that they need, and 3) 
>> made recovery disks per their vendor's instructions.  (Actually there is 
>> a fair chance that the student will have no idea how to make recovery 
>> disks, as vendors are not always clear on this.)  Really these are not 
>> strange "extra" safety measures, it is simple standard procedure for 
>> repartitioning.  I would never repartition my own machine without having 
>> taken these steps, so I shouldn't recommend, let alone assist, someone 
>> else to do it either.  I think when faced with the choice of doing all 
>> this or buying a $15 USB stick, many students will just buy the stick.  
>> Especially if there is a pre-canned "MESA-on-a-stick" installation!
>> 
>> Dean
>> 
>> 
>> On 06/08/2014 08:08 PM, James Lloyd wrote:
>>> Hi All,
>>> 
>>> Although I have not taught a course using MESA, I have taught a course that focusses on astronomical computing/data analysis.  In early versions of the course, the students worked in a pre-built and carefully controlled environment on lab computers.  More recently, the students use their own laptops and have to install python/IDL and learn how to install all the extra packages they will need.  All that futzing around with installations and compilers _is_ at least as important as the rest of it to get going in research, so I let it be one of the skills learned in the course.
>>> 
>>> Give a student compiled code and you feed him for a day, teach a student to install a compiler and he's running code for a lifetime, or something like that...
>>> 
>>> Regards,
>>> 
>>> James
>>> 
>>> On Jun 8, 2014, at 8:52 PM, Bill Paxton wrote:
>>> 
>>>> On Jun 8, 2014, at 5:43 PM, Josiah Schwab wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> On  8 June 2014 at 12:14 PDT, Dean Townsley wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> My suggestion would be to provide a "live DVD" that can be put on a DVD
>>>>>> or USB stick and booted on a PC.  One that would contain a linux
>>>>>> distribution with MESA pre-built and setup.  Then the student could just
>>>>>> grab some inlists from dropbox or a website and go.  Ideally there might
>>>>>> be some user data area on a USB stick too.  Or just put important things
>>>>>> back on dropbox.
>>>>> As is, MESA (9GB) can't fit on a DVD (4GB).
>>>> 
>>>> How big is it if you don't send all of mesa but instead just what is needed to run mesa/star.
>>>> 
>>>> no source code.  tar files for data.
>>>> 
>>>> i bet you could get that on a DVD.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>> Does anyone have any experience running MESA in a VM (e.g., VirtualBox)?
>>>>> Any idea how much of a performance hit there is?
>>>>> 
>>>>> A VM image would have the advantage of not requiring the students to
>>>>> provide any installation media.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Josiah
>>>>> 
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>>>> Find What Matters Most in Your Big Data with HPCC Systems
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>>> Find What Matters Most in Your Big Data with HPCC Systems
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>> 
>> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> HPCC Systems Open Source Big Data Platform from LexisNexis Risk Solutions
>> Find What Matters Most in Your Big Data with HPCC Systems
>> Open Source. Fast. Scalable. Simple. Ideal for Dirty Data.
>> Leverages Graph Analysis for Fast Processing & Easy Data Exploration
>> http://www.hpccsystems.com
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> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> HPCC Systems Open Source Big Data Platform from LexisNexis Risk Solutions
> Find What Matters Most in Your Big Data with HPCC Systems
> Open Source. Fast. Scalable. Simple. Ideal for Dirty Data.
> Leverages Graph Analysis for Fast Processing & Easy Data Exploration
> http://www.hpccsystems.com
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