Computing Facilities

The Department of Computer Science maintains state-of-the-art laboratories for student use. They provide access to a broad range of software, including:

• Linux,
• Mac OSX, and
• Windows operating systems.

We encourage students to work with the broadest range of software environments during their studies.

Computer Access

Primary access to computers is via desktop machines for use by students who are present in the labs.  Students may also bring their own laptop devices to the labs and hook them up to keyboards and display screens specially reserved for this purpose.

We also support remote access to laboratory services through "terminal servers":

• Linux on tuxworld.usask.ca,
• Windows on skynet.cs.usask.ca.
• Remote support for Mac OSX is coming soon!

In this way, students can access their work "wherever they are" on the Internet, using their preferred computing appliance.

Instructional Spaces

A variety of instructional spaces are provided:

• Large instructional labs,
• Open-access workstations for individual and team use, and
• Small group meeting rooms,
• The Smart Board room.

Software Library

Students, staff and faculty of the Department of Computer Science have access to software distributions from:

• The Microsoft MSDN-Academic Alliance,
• Mandriva Linux
• Ubuntu Linux.

Please look at the individual categories for specific loan and acquisition procedures.

Help and Support

Several different kinds of support are provided for students:

• Student Help Center staff are available to provide general assistance,
• "Instructors in the Lab" provide specialized assistance for students in first- and second-year courses, and
• other students are available to field questions and engage in joint problem-sloving.

Questions regarding the labs should be forwarded to oncall@cs.usask.ca