Opening up the closed shop that is the LPI [LWN.net]

Opening up the closed shop that is the LPI

Posted Apr 5, 2006 5:59 UTC (Wed) by nicku (subscriber, #777)
Parent article: Ubuntu certification from LPI

I took the LPI 102 exam last December and found a number of serious problems with the exam, including one question that reflected misconceptions by the person setting the question: all answers provided were undeniably completely wrong. Although this was an older version of the exam, the quality was embarrassingly poor in many other respects.

If LPI opened up its exam development, the quality of the exams could improve dramatically. There is no reason why the community could not contribute large numbers of good quality questions that are open to peer review by large numbers of people. The LPI exams could select worthwhile candidate questions from this large pool. Having a large number of questions will solve various other problems, such as companies taking "brain dumps" from people who have sat the exam, and selling them, as well as raising the standard from this unprofessional situation.

LPI could become a much more vibrant member of the community that welcomes participation from people, rather than being a moribund closed shop. Perhaps this involvment with Canonical is a good first step in such a direction.

(Log in to post comments)

Opening up the closed shop that is the LPI

Posted Apr 5, 2006 7:41 UTC (Wed) by kleptog (subscriber, #1183) [Link]

At the Linux conference in Australia last year there was a session by one of the people involved in the process who explained how it worked and what the problems were. Things like not being able to publish the lists of questions for review because then people would study only that an nothing else. That would make it difficult to produce a truly open system.

That said, they were very receptive to feedback. If you have suggestions for improvement I'm sure they'll take them up.

Opening up the closed shop that is the LPI

Posted Apr 5, 2006 21:07 UTC (Wed) by nicku (subscriber, #777) [Link]

If there were thousands of higher quality questions (a quest for which I would happily contribute towards), then so what if someone learns all ten thousand? Perhaps such a dedicated person may learn something real in the process! Is this worse than the current situation where some people pay for "inside information" about those "secret" questions of dubious quality?

Opening up the closed shop that is the LPI

Posted Apr 5, 2006 21:32 UTC (Wed) by nicku (subscriber, #777) [Link]

That said, they were very receptive to feedback. If you have suggestions for improvement I'm sure they'll take them up.

I hope so. I have given detailed feedback, though the response was not very specific.

I really believe that opening the process could bring about a wonderful change to the LPI. The very open process that has made Linux and much free software of high quality can help rather than hinder the LPI. They have no need to use publicly reviewed questions before they have a target number of questions. In any event, building such a pool of reviewed questions, rated by the community, would be a very useful resource for people who are learning about and teaching Linux system administration, even during the period before the number has reached the required target.

Opening up the closed shop that is the LPI

Posted Apr 14, 2006 15:34 UTC (Fri) by scottlamb (guest, #37154) [Link]

LPI has always prided itself on having a "community" development model for its certification programs which is as open as possible without sacrificing exam integrity or security. I invite you to become involved in the process--your comments and input are welcome. Please contact me directly at scottl_at_lpi.org. Many thanks for your interest!