Good lecturer. Tough but fair exams and labs. Definitely use the TAs as a resource and don't procrastinate. I would say that out of all the CS classes at UCSB, this was taught me the most about fundamentally useful computer science concepts. Second that he will humiliate you if you are late to lecture though.

I do not think this class is as difficult as it appears. The lectures are awesome and you have a ton of support on the assignments from course staff. I feel like I could actually apply the skills to a career position. Homework takes significant effort, but the assignments were fun and satisfying...But if you come late to class he'll humiliate you.

OS is a hard class and not mandatory anymore but I took the classes because I wanted to learn. However I regret my decision already two

Professor Wolski makes an already tough class worse with his condescending attitude. He seems to care more about his own superiority than student success. Though his grading is clear and he's organized, he doesn't foster a positive learning environment. Avoid his class if you value your confidence.

Professor Wolski is an amazing lecturer. Unfortunately, if you have a minor bug in your lab, it can mean a major loss of points (which happened to a lot of people for the last lab). Labs have no test cases: you must do adversarial testing yourself, and this can be more difficult depending on your partner. But I will say it was worth the struggle.

Insanely knowledgeable in his field of study and really, really passionate about operating systems. If you just want to pass the class, don't take 170 with him, but if you're invested in learning how Linux *actually* works, his class is well worth the effort. Do not take this class if you don't have a good background in C, and go to office hours!

Atrocious grading scheme. Final is worth 40%, last lab is worth over 30%. I did learn a lot, and my labs were "perfect" all quarter until the last one. I thought I was set, and an extremely minor bug caused me to get a bad score.. there goes 25% of my grade! Lectures were good, but comparable to other good UCSB CS professors. I don't get the hype.

One of the hardest classes that I've taken at UCSB but I learned a lot and found the experience to be worth it. Start the labs early and work with a good partner. This is not a class for procrastinators or people looking for an easy A. Go to Rich's office hours, he has plenty of great wisdom to share.

Be ready to code Linux in 10 weeks. Partner projects cover most of the grading and one final to consider. Good lectures and his notes explain concepts really well.

Super difficult class, but the professor was great. Projects make up a bulk of the class and take considerable time, so start EARLY. Professor was very responsive and explained concepts clearly, just a lot to wrap your head around.

CS170 with Prof Wolski was the hardest class I've ever taken but it was so worth it. I see my computer and OS in a whole new light after last quarter.

Although he's very intimidating at first, I found myself enjoying operating systems more than I thought. He gives off a sort of crackhead energy that can make lectures difficult to follow sometimes. Despite the heaviness of his lectures and the difficulty of his labs, his exams were extremely reasonable and the curve is quite generous.