Should schools force the use of legacy systems?

[Kevin_theprogrammer]

At my university there is an old server that runs Sun OS 5.9 which one of the professors insists that our programs run on. Do you think that's fair?

Many times dated servers are used. CP/M servers have been used up until the 90s even though they were clearly dated simply because they worked or they had software unobrainable on other OSes.

Most of my class complains because they either write code on their own UNIX machines and then have to port them, or write them on the Suns in the lab (running Sun OS 10) and then are forces to backwards port them.

You shouldn't be programming on that thing unless your nostalgic or have to deal with patching the thing.

She's the only professor that does this, everyone else that I've had has given us a choice between Sun 10, OSX, or Windows. Does using dead technology have any purpose that you can think of?

On the contrary, many Unix systems use many of the same technologies used years ago on System V. For example rc.
In terms of programming:
1. Older operating systems are less capable than newer ones - you learn to program lightly via the limits of the machine that can run it. Thus you do not produce bloated, terrible applications for today's computers.
2. Older operating systems such as DOS do not "wipe your ass" for you when you program. Nothing is given to you and you learn to make these things on your own rather than popping in OpenGL and using the sound subsystems already there for you.
In terms of everything else:
3. Nostalgia.
4. Older operating systems sometimes have applications that have not been programmed for newer systems.
5. Older operating systems just work, and often there is no need to upgrade because this old technology works perfectly fine for the purpose it has been given.