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Five reasons why LPIC outpaces Red Hat's RHCE (ZDNet)
This
ZDNet article about certification is written by an author who used to
recommend Red Hat's RHCE, but who now thinks that Linux Professional Institute has a better
product. "The open source movement emphasises community
participation. The concept of ownership by a single vendor goes against the
Linux grain, and several distributions vie for attention. It's natural,
then, that a vendor-independent Linux certification will appeal to members
of the open source community. A vendor-independent exam is a natural
fit."
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Five reasons why LPIC outpaces Red Hat's RHCE (ZDNet) Posted Oct 18, 2002 22:36 UTC (Fri) by smoogen (subscriber, #97) [Link] OK I am a former Red Hat employee.. so take this with a grain of salt.I read the article, and I dont see an actual comparison of the two exams. [Actually I became a bit biased when I got the feeling that the writer was saying that Cisco exams are industry standards because they are the market leader... Cisco exams are still damn hard and a high standard.] Did the writer take both sets of tests? I didnt see this as much as he was going off of what he had read. Without actually taking the classes or tests, I cant see anyone being a good recommendation (and I would have said the same about the RHCE recommendation he gave last year.. if he didnt try it.)
Five reasons why LPIC outpaces Red Hat's RHCE (ZDNet) Posted Oct 19, 2002 5:39 UTC (Sat) by nicku (subscriber, #777) [Link] Sorry, I am not aware of any LPI classes. I haven't checked recently, but a few months ago LPI did not directly endorse any training provider. Please let me know if I am wrong here.
Five reasons why LPIC outpaces Red Hat's RHCE (ZDNet) Posted Oct 19, 2002 6:28 UTC (Sat) by el56 (guest, #6774) [Link] That's what vendor-neutral means, there is no single specific "official" LPI training regimen. In the meantime, there are a number of LPI targeted books as well as 353 centers listed at lintraining.com that can offerr LPI preparation training.
Five reasons why LPIC outpaces Red Hat's RHCE (ZDNet) Posted Oct 19, 2002 0:12 UTC (Sat) by mattdm (subscriber, #18) [Link] There's a simple reason why Red Hat's exam is better than any other -- and it's the same reason Cisco's is, really. Unlike LPIC, a computer-based multiple-guess test is only a portion of the exam. The majority is *lab based*, with one section requiring real-world configuration of a stock machine, and another requiring diagnosis of real-world problems on a live machine. I can pass multiple-choice tests on subjects I barely understand. It takes a lab-based test to actually sort out who knows what they're talking about.
Five reasons why LPIC outpaces Red Hat's RHCE (ZDNet) Posted Oct 19, 2002 6:40 UTC (Sat) by el56 (guest, #6774) [Link] There's a simple reason why Red Hat's exam is better than any other -- and it's the same reason Cisco's is, really.The reason given is both simple and wrong. The assertion that RHCE is better because it has a hands-on component, is just that, an assertion without basis in fact. No matter how they get there, every certification ends at a binary result -- either someone is skilled enough to get the certification or not. A well-designed computer-delivered exam is as capable of making that determination as a hand-on exam, and has the advantage that it can be delivered, less expensively, in thousands of locations rather than dozens. The ZD author noted that LPI exams actually were harder to pass than the RHCE ones, so there's little basis in fact that the RH exams did any better of a job of separating those who know their stuff from those who don't.
Five reasons why LPIC outpaces Red Hat's RHCE (ZDNet) Posted Oct 19, 2002 14:42 UTC (Sat) by mattdm (subscriber, #18) [Link] The reason given is both simple and wrong. The assertion that RHCE is better because it has a hands-on component, is just that, an assertion without basis in fact. It's an assertion with basis in practical understanding. The ZD author noted that LPI exams actually were harder to pass than the RHCE ones, No he didn't. 54% pass rate for LPIC vs. 57% for Red Hat. And right after that, the author says: Certainly, there are numerous differences between the two certifications and the candidates that pursue them, so it's not entirely appropriate to compare them in such a manner. Red Hat's exam costs more than three times as much, and it's past a threshold where a random college student can easily take the test. People who take it are more serious about passing -- that fact alone easily accounts for a three-percentage-point difference. You can disparage hands-on demonstration of ability all you want, but I'll certainly pick someone who has passed the RHCE exam over someone with just the LPIC, all other things being apparently equal -- no matter what distribution is in question. There's a huge difference between being an encyclopedia of Linux facts and being actually able to do anything.
Five reasons why LPIC outpaces Red Hat's RHCE (ZDNet) Posted Oct 19, 2002 5:36 UTC (Sat) by nicku (subscriber, #777) [Link] I have taken both tests, and believe both have their merits. I would ideally like to see a vendor neutral certification with as high quality as the Red Hat RHCE. Anyone interested in doing the work?One thing on cost: the writer compares apples with oranges when comparing a $749 RHCE with a $200 LPIC-1. This seem to support the view that the reviewer has not actually taken the exams, which would make his review embarrassingly theoretical.
Five reasons why LPIC outpaces Red Hat's RHCE (ZDNet) Posted Oct 20, 2002 17:54 UTC (Sun) by dowdle (subscriber, #659) [Link] I took and passed the RHCE exam for RHL7.2. As most everyone already knows the RHCE test is in three parts and is an ALL DAY affair. I can't see how the LPIC test could possibly compete. The group of people I tested with did well on the computer generated, multiple choice test... but many of them had problems in either or both of the troubleshooting and install / configuration sections of the exam.Don't get me wrong, the multiple choice portion of the RHCE isn't a piece of cake (although I found it pretty easy having over 6 years [at that time] working with Red Hat and other distros) and everyone I tested with had done quite a bit of studying. Almost all of them had just finished four days worth of class work and labs... and they all had professional jobs working either directly with Linux or with another brand of Unix. Several were Unix tech support specialists for major vendors (left out the names to protect the innocent) and had been so for one or more years. The point here is that while some people might not like the fact that the RHCE concentrates on only one distribution (RedHat), it is a high quality exam as is their entire RHCE training program. The exam is designed to keep people who don't have the appropriate skills from passing. Oddly enough, I'd have to say that the vast majority of materials presented in the RHCE program DO APPLY to many other distributions and aren't so geared to Red Hat as to be useless to other distro users. I mean, they cover all of the major server apps (apache, samba, nfs, sendmail, bind, etc) setup and configuration... which applies to everyone. Yes, there is some RHL specific information... which I hope would also be covered in any vendor agnostic course as well since many distros borrow from Red Hat. The article is just a subtle attempt to divide the Linux community and divert attention from the fact that Linux rocks. :)
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