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Coursera to combine with Udemy

investor.coursera.com

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Re: Coursera to combine with Udemy

#301

Post by locknitpicker »

nickjj wrote: post #170
ravenstine wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Modern society totally devalues anything considered even slightly old. I used to notice it as a real lack of intergenerational knowledge transfer, but it's gotten so bad that it seems like more and more people react with "how do you know so much?" and "why would you do that?" over very basic knowledge that isn't even that old. For all the reading the average person claims to do, they sure don't seem to know very much…

Yep, you're definitely not wrong. We see it all the time on GitHub. If a project hasn't gotten a new commit in 2 days then the project is claimed dead. The same thing with blogs in general. A post could be popular and ranked highly in 2020 but in 2025 it's not even ranked on a search engine, even if the content is still highly relevant and fully working. It's bad because you could have a 10+ year old site with 500+ p…

> Yep, you're definitely not wrong. We see it all the time on GitHub. If a project hasn't gotten a new commit in 2 days then the project is claimed dead.

There is a difference between being dead and not actively maintained. If a popular FLOSS package isn't touched for many moons, do you think it just means it's done?

Re: Coursera to combine with Udemy

#302

Post by locknitpicker »

drnick1 wrote: post #298
warkdarrior wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If a project hasn't gotten a new commit in 2 days then the project is claimed dead. That is certainly true, those projects are effectively dead. They lack security updates, lack integrations with new platforms, lack support for new HW architectures, lack newer privacy guarantees, etc., etc.

Certainly that depends on the nature of the software. For instance, I don't expect some header-only library that does what it's supposed to do to ever need updating.

> Certainly that depends on the nature of the software. For instance, I don't expect some header-only library that does what it's supposed to do to ever need updating.

If it's a headers-only library in a language such as C++, if the project is not dead then the very least anyone would expect from it is being updated to support any of the modern C++ versions.

Also, if the project is actively maintained then there is always a multitude of low-priority issues and features to address.

Being FLOSS also means anyone in the whole world is able to contribute anything. If no one bothers to do so, that is aligned with the fact the project is indeed dead.

Re: Coursera to combine with Udemy

#303

Post by locknitpicker »

jaimie wrote: post #191
TheSkyHasEyes wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Modern society totally devalues anything considered even slightly old. Mild counterpoint. Our professions(all things IT) moves bloody fast. If I were looking for info on cooking, baking, knitting sure... but IT stuff, I opine many of us seek the latest info because of the breakneck speeds this profession is known for.

Does it though? I mean I'm still teaching thread-safety and recursion to my interns... a solid foundation is a solid foundation.

> Does it though? I mean I'm still teaching thread-safety and recursion to my interns... a solid foundation is a solid foundation.

I think you are confusing interiorizing some fundamentals with things moving fast. There are languages and frameworks rolling out higher level support for features covering concurrency and parallelism. While you focus on thread-safety, a framework you already use can and often does roll out features that outright eliminate those concerns with idiomatic approaches that are far easier to maintain. Wouldn't you classify that as moving fast?

Re: Coursera to combine with Udemy

#304

Post by locknitpicker »

malfist wrote: post #289
mathgeek wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the fundamentals, sure, but many of the top sellers are going to be on things like React, Next, etc.

And in ten years after react is forgotten about, there will still be companies actively hiring Java developers

> And in ten years after react is forgotten about, there will still be companies actively hiring Java developer

In ten years you'll see greybeards complaining that new kids don't know shit about React fundamentals.

Re: Coursera to combine with Udemy

#305

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

cheschire wrote: post #261
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost my entire education has been OJT (On the Job Training). I'm a high school dropout, with a G.E.D. I've spent my entire life, looking up the noses of folks that just assume they are better than me. Gets a bit grating, but the plus side is, is that I have to prove myself, over, and over. Besides that annoyance, it's been excellent. Directing my own learning has been amazing. Having to prove myself, over and over,…

I remember one night my dad drove up to a building with three letters on it. Walked up to some lady behind a desk inside the front door, and after arguing for a bit, pulled out his checkbook and wrote on it, passing the check to her. I watched as he turned and walked back to the car looking a sad mixture of dejected and pissed. I asked “what’s I.T.T?” He said “it stands for Blood Sucking Leeches.” And we drove home.…

I think my school was owned by them (it was called “R.E.T.S.”).

It was expensive. $6,000, for a 2-year, full-time curriculum. I took a loan, and spent 10 years, paying it back.

Best investment I ever made.

Re: Coursera to combine with Udemy

#306

Post by wickedsight »

BeetleB wrote: post #230
nkmnz wrote: post #114

Udemy never sold knowledge. They are selling that feeling of a new beginning, of a better future, of FINALLY doing (buying!!!) that course you always wanted to finish. 50% of buyers don't even finish the first video.

> 50% of buyers don't even finish the first video. And another comment: > I'm sure some people are disciplined enough to learn from it, but there's no way that's the norm. I'm not understanding the problem. I think it is insane to expect that when you offer something for free (or very cheap), and it requires work and patience, that most people will follow through. That a big percentage don't get far is not at all a c…

> I think it is insane to expect that when you offer something for free (or very cheap), and it requires work and patience, that most people will follow through.

Just look at gym memberships. Apparently over 2/3 of people never use it and only about 20% use it regularly. Are the gyms also to blame for that? I don't think so.

Re: Coursera to combine with Udemy

#307

Post by vunderba »

linhns wrote: post #136
jonathanlb wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If Udemy's pitch were “Learn X as Taught by Notable People in the Field,” MasterClass already is like this, but the content doesn't go as deep as it could to really teach learners.

Masterclass is really a scam in my opinion. Who needs them to teach about generic stuff, when what we need is how to be good like them, that’s why we pay for the course

This. Intro to X courses are better left to the manifold resources available on YouTube. Experts are for expert topics. As Liszt reportedly said when asked why he eventually accepted only advanced pupils: “Wash your dirty linen at home.”

Re: Coursera to combine with Udemy

#308

Post by SkiFire13 »

warkdarrior wrote: post #205
nickjj wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, you're definitely not wrong. We see it all the time on GitHub. If a project hasn't gotten a new commit in 2 days then the project is claimed dead. The same thing with blogs in general. A post could be popular and ranked highly in 2020 but in 2025 it's not even ranked on a search engine, even if the content is still highly relevant and fully working. It's bad because you could have a 10+ year old site with 500+ p…

> If a project hasn't gotten a new commit in 2 days then the project is claimed dead. That is certainly true, those projects are effectively dead. They lack security updates, lack integrations with new platforms, lack support for new HW architectures, lack newer privacy guarantees, etc., etc.

> They lack security updates

Very few projects update dependencies that often, and only very big ones are found with security issues that often.

> lack integrations with new platforms

You don't need a new intration _every 2 days_, not to mention that many projects don't need such integrations at all. Moreover some popular and updated projects lack such integrations despite having lot of commits.

> lack support for new HW architectures

This is something that many projects get for free. But also, you don't get a new HW architecture every 2 days.

> lack newer privacy guarantees

What more privacy guarantees do I need from projects that don't communicate with external services or store data at all?

Re: Coursera to combine with Udemy

#309

Post by SkiFire13 »

locknitpicker wrote: post #302
drnick1 wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Certainly that depends on the nature of the software. For instance, I don't expect some header-only library that does what it's supposed to do to ever need updating.

> Certainly that depends on the nature of the software. For instance, I don't expect some header-only library that does what it's supposed to do to ever need updating. If it's a headers-only library in a language such as C++, if the project is not dead then the very least anyone would expect from it is being updated to support any of the modern C++ versions. Also, if the project is actively maintained then there is a…

> If it's a headers-only library in a language such as C++, if the project is not dead then the very least anyone would expect from it is being updated to support any of the modern C++ versions.

Did I miss a new C++ version released <2 days ago perhaps?

Re: Coursera to combine with Udemy

#310

Post by SilverSlash »

"Coursera to Combine with Udemy to Empower the Global Workforce with Skills for the AI Era"

Incredibly sad to hear this. Coursera was transformative for my education and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it changed my life for the better.

I know these open courseware platforms have been bad for many years now but this feels like the final nail in the coffin for Coursera. I'm just grateful my education happened to overlap with the advent of the open courses movement and before they realized it was never going to be profitable.

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