LPI February/March 2005 Newsletter

February/March LPI Newsletter

1. Essen Exam Development Workshop
2. LPI's Largest Exam Lab in South Africa
3. LPI at Desktop Summit in San Diego and LinuxWorld Boston
4. Association of Test Publishers Conference
5. LPI in the Middle East
6. LPI at CeBIT, Hannover, Germany
7. March Media Tour
8. LPI in the Caribbean
9. New LATM in France and Switzerland
10. LPI in the News
11. More LPI News
12. Upcoming LPI Events
13. New LPI Staff
14. A Testimonial of Thanks


1. Essen Exam Development Workshop

LPI hosted an Exam Development Workshop in Essen, Germany, February 16th 
through 19th, with attendees from Europe and South America. The workshop 
was organized by LPI's Level Two (LPIC-2) Lead, Dimitrios Bogiatzoules 
(Taki).

The purpose of the German workshop was to populate the level two exams 
with new items or questions, and to ensure that these questions are 
written for the Linux community by the community. The workshop involved 
Linux specialists from Brazil, the United Kingdom and Germany remotely 
and on site.

The workshop took place at the Linux Hotel in Essen, Germany 
(www.linuxhotel.de) which provided a secure and well equipped 
environment. The Linux Hotel not only offers trainings but it also 
supports Open Source Software and Linux and hosts the FSF-Europe office.

The results of the workshop were very valuable with over 220 new items 
being created and reviewed and which will be used to publish updated 
level two (LPIC-2) exam forms later this year. Other workshop time 
focused on other aspects of LPI certifications development.

Some impressions of the hotel, the work and the social event can be seen 
at http://www.lpi-german.de/album/2005_02_Essen/index.html .

LPI likes to thank the item writers Ralph Dehner (DE), Timo Dotzauer 
(DE), Vagner Farias (BR), Bruno Gomes (BR), Peter Hess (DE) and Simon 
Williams (EN) for their contributions and, of course, Taki.



2. LPI's Largest Exam Lab in South Africa

On February 26, 2005 the marathon exam lab in Johannesburg, South Africa 
delivered 280 exams to 165 individuals--the largest exam lab for LPI to 
date (a picture is available at 
https://group.lpi.org/publicwiki/pub/Operations/Resources...).

Congratulations to the hard work of Allan MacKinnon of AfricaBiz, 
Colette Malherbe of SmartSource, Obsidian Systems, Shuttleworth 
Foundation and all the volunteers from local training groups, LUGS and 
Novell. A special thank you to NetCB for providing the food during the day.

During the day three LPI proctors were trained from Namibia so that it 
will possible to offer exam labs in that country as well
(a picture of the proctors trained in South Africa is at 
https://group.lpi.org/publicwiki/pub/Operations/Resources...)

The event earned substantial media coverage in South Africa including 
front page news in the weekly Computing SA (see: 
http://www.ictworld.co.za/EditorialEdit.asp?Archive=1&...). 
LPI's affiliate in South Africa, The Shuttleworth Foundation, and 
AfricaBiz have established a large network of volunteers and committed 
pool of item writers to help create questions and items for Level one 
exams at the upcoming LinuxWorld in Johannesburg, May 17-20, 2005.

Hats off to the Republic of South Africa. A job well done!

For more information see:
http://www.netcb.com/article.php?ID=11
http://www.afribiz.co.za/lpiframe.html
http://www.lpi.org/en/news_item/101
http://www.shuttleworthfoundation.org/index2.php?option=c...


3. LPI at Desktop Summit in San Diego and LinuxWorld Boston

Level One (LPIC-1) Lead, Mark Miller, and Director of Business 
Development, Glenn McKnight attended the Desktop Summit in San Diego in 
February. In addition to hosting exam labs and an exhibit booth the two 
LPI staff met with representatives of LinSpire who are interested in 
developing a desktop certification for Venezuela. The Venezuelan 
government has recently passed legislation which will see full adoption 
of open source software in government departments within two years. IT 
representatives in that country who serve on the government subcommittee 
for LATINUX (a Linux distro for Brazil, Ecuador, Columbia, Argentina and 
Venezuela) who also met with LPI staff at the San Diego summit estimated 
desktop certification could be targeted at as much as 300,000 end users 
within the LATINUX program.

During LinuxWorld Boston, LPI announced the IDG Gold sponsorship of LPI 
and our upcoming participation in all LinuxWorld events globally.
Over 61 people participated in the LPI survey on future certification 
development at the event and Frank Vincentelli was the winner of the 
Bradford Learning LPIC1 training materials which were part of a draw for 
survey participants. At LinuxWorld Boston there was also a meeting of 
the Advisory Council which discussed a variety of possible new 
certification products for LPI and on an informal note some possible 
initiatives around marketing and raising LPI's profile. Minutes of the 
Advisory Council meeting and photos from both the Desktop Summit and 
LinuxWorld Boston are available at: 
https://group.lpi.org/cgi-bin/publicwiki/view/Operations/...

For more information on the IDG Gold Sponsorship see:
http://investor.news.com/Engine?Account=cnet&PageName...
http://www.linuxworldexpo.com/live/12/media//news/CC986212
http://www.lpi.org/en/news_item/100


4. Association of Test Publishers Conference

At the end of February, LPI President Evan Leibovitch and Level One 
(LPIC-1) Lead, Mark Miller, attended the Association of Test Publishers 
Annual Conference at Scottsdale, Arizona. Mr. Leibovitch was part of a 
panel on test security at the conference (see 
http://www.designingeventsonline.com/atpcon2005/ATPProgra...).
Mr. Miller had a number of observations on how LPI's certification 
program differs from other programs--his remarks and observations from 
the conference are a worthwhile read and can be found at: 
https://group.lpi.org/publicwiki/pub/Operations/Resources...


5. LPI in the Middle East

Following proctor training and the exam lab in South Africa, LPI 
Director of Business Development Glenn McKnight, travelled to Damascus 
Syria to participate in the second Annual Syrian FOSS Workshop sponsored 
by the Network of Syrian Scientists, Technologists and Innovators Abroad 
(NOSSTIA) and the Syrian GNU/Linux Users Group. Conference organizers 
sponsored LPI's participation in the event which included a presentation 
by Mr. McKnight on LPI and an exam lab. At the conference, and in a side 
trip to Turkey, Mr. McKnight also spoke with IT representatives about 
the potential for LPI certification in the region. Both Prometric and 
VUE have indicated to LPI that there is growth potential for our 
certification program in the Middle East.

For a full report of the Syrian FOSS Workshop see: 
https://group.lpi.org/publicwiki/pub/Operations/Resources...

For more information: http://www.foss2005.org/english/lpi/index.html
http://newsvac.newsforge.com/newsvac/05/01/13/0439242.shtml


6. LPI at CeBIT, Hannover, Germany

LPI-German hosted a booth at CeBIT in Hannover, Germany from March 10 
-16, 2005. A photo of our exhibit booth is available at: 
https://group.lpi.org/publicwiki/pub/Operations/Resources...

During CeBIT LPI-German also held a Board Meeting at which a number of 
business-related initiatives were discussed. Amongst these was a list of 
events LPI-German will be attending in the upcoming year. Some of these 
include:
- LIBCON, April, Wolfsburg
- Linuxtag, June, Karlsruhe
- Pforzheimer Linuxtag, July, Pforzheim
- Systems, October, München
- LinuxWorldExpo, November, Frankfurt

Exam labs will be offered at Linuxtag and LinuxWorldExpo. The CeBIT 
event proved quite successful for LPI-German as six new LATPs signed on 
with the organization immediately following the conference (see 
http://www.lpi-german.de/latp/index.html).


7. March Media Tour

In March, President Evan Leibovitch travelled to Boston and New York to 
undertake personal interviews with a number of high circulation IT or 
business publications and high profile IT industry analysts including 
InformationWeek, Network World, Forrester Research, Gartner Group, 
Computer Reseller News, The Wall Street Journal and ComputerWorld. These 
personal interviews were also followed up by telephone interviews with a 
number of other influential IT analysts. This media effort is part of a 
larger public relations effort presently under development by The Bohle 
Company on behalf of LPI in order to differentiate LPI from other IT 
certifications.

An edited version of Evan's speaking notes and presentation called 
"What's Wrong with IT certification is available at:
https://group.lpi.org/publicwiki/pub/Operations/Resources...



8. LPI in the Caribbean

The Caribbean Linux and Open Source Foundation (CLOSF), LPI's affiliate 
in the Caribbean region, hosted a regional FOSS Networking Event on 
March 16-17 on the subjects of IT Professional Certification 
(specifically LPI certification), LPI Courseware 
Development/Translation, and FOSS Advocacy/Promotion (see 
https://group.lpi.org/publicwiki/pub/Operations/Resources...).

The event involved IT professionals, government officials, multilateral 
representatives, and training companies to discuss implementation of an 
open source capacity development project funded by the Institute for 
Connectivity in the Americas (ICA). Event participants developed an 
action plan around the introduction of LPI certification into the region 
and other FOSS initiatives. The Workshop Action items are included 
amongst the documents below as well as other material related to the 
project.

https://group.lpi.org/publicwiki/pub/Operations/Resources...
http://www.icamericas.net/documents/Caribbean_Proposals/C...
https://group.lpi.org/publicwiki/pub/Operations/Resources...
https://group.lpi.org/publicwiki/pub/Operations/Resources...

CLOSF Event Blogger-Taran Rampersand/Linux Gazette:
http://www.linuxgazette.com/node/10053 Linux Professional Institute's 
Assistance within the Caribbean and Latin America region.
http://www.linuxgazette.com/node/10057 Caribbean Linux Open Source 
Foundation Announces New Level of Co-operation


9. New LATM in France and Switzerland


In February LPI announced its first French-language LPI approved 
training materials from LynuxTraining of Geneva and Lausanne, 
Switzerland, and Paris, France, where it operates under the name of 
Kylog. LynuxTraining's courseware is also available in English
and a German translation is anticipated in the near future.

Mandrakesoft, the publisher of Mandrakelinux (now Mandriva) with offices 
in California, USA and Paris, France, uses LynuxTraining’s LATM 
courseware in their training programs.

Lynuxtraining is owned and operated by Raphaël Arrigoni, a long time 
supporter of LPI, and who provided logistical support to the LPI team 
during WSIS in Geneva in December 2003.


http://www.lynuxtraining.com
http://www.lpi.org/en/news_item/97
http://www.trainerslink.com/content/view/351/57/




10. LPI in the News

"Get What You Need for Your LPI Certifications, Exploring LPI Level 1 
Certification: Part 1 of 4," Novell Magazine March/April 2005:
http://www.novell.com/connectionmagazine/2005/03/tech_tal...

"The Alternative Way", Financial Post, April 2005
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/financialpost...

"LPIC Study Guide: Exam Cram 2", Linux Magazine, March 2005
http://www.linux-mag.com/content/view/99/43/

"To the Test", Linux Magazine, April 2005
http://www.linux-magazine.com/issue/53/Comment.pdf




11. More LPI News

Linux Professional Institute Certification Exams Top 75,000 Worldwide
http://www.lpi.org/en/news_item/98

LPI and Mandrakesoft Partner to Promote Linux Training Standards
http://www.lpi.org/en/news_item/102

LPI Certification Exams at PHP Quebec Conference
http://www.lpi.org/en/news_item/104


12. Upcoming LPI Events

LinuxWorld Conference and Expo Canada, Toronto, April 18-20, 2005 : Exam 
Lab and Booth

LinuxWorld Conference & Expo Canada and the Linux Professional Institute 
will be offering FREE Linux
certification testing. This offer is available *FREE* to all paid 
conference attendees. Value $100.00.
Cost for Trade Show only attendees is $50 per exam. LPI will offer 101 
and 201 exams at the conference

All candidates must have an LPI ID. Please obtain your LPI ID from 
https://www.lpi.org/en/register.html
Exam times are Tuesday, April 19, 12:00 noon to 2:00 pm and Wednesday, 
April 20, 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm.

For more information: http://www.linuxworldcanada.com/lpi_cert.html

Attendance to the trade shows is free to LPI supporters. Please download 
the admission pass at:
https://group.lpi.org/publicwiki/pub/Operations/Resources...

LPI supporters can also receive a 25% discount on advance rates for 
conference attendance. Use conference code A101 when registering.



LinuxWorld China, Shanghai, April 26-27, 2005: Exam Lab and Booth
See http://www.linuxworldchina.com for more information.


Linux.conf.au, Canberra, April 18-April 23, 2005: Exam Lab and Exam 
Development Workshop

linux.conf.au is Australia's national Linux conference and will be held 
at the Australian National University in Canberra
Exam sessions will be held at various times on Monday 18, Tuesday 19 and 
Wednesday 20 April. Exam registration is presently closed. For more 
information on the exam labs see http://linux.conf.au/lpi.php

LPI level one (LPIC-1) lead, Mark Miller, will be also conducting an 
Exam Development Workshop with supporters of the Ubuntu Linux 
distribution during the conference.


13. New LPI Staff

Arne Flones, LPIC-1 SME Lead:

Arne is a software developer and former mathematics teacher. His Linux 
experiences began in 1997 with Slackware. For five years he co-hosted 
"The Linux Show" Webcast. As LPI LPIC-1 Subject Matter Lead, he helps 
develop the LPI level one examinations.

Simon Williams, LPIC-2 SME Lead:

Simon has been using Linux for 7 to 8 years (mainly Slackware), during 
which he authored most of the Security chapter for the new
version of Slackware Linux Essentials. Simon is an IT consultant 
specializing in Linux Sysadmin. Simon received his level two last 
October and as LPIC-2 Subject Matter Lead he assists with the 
development of level two examinations.


Neil Christian and Darren Moore, Journalism Interns

Darren and Neil are undertaking an 8 week placement with LPI to assist 
in content development for information materials and LPI websites. This 
placement is a requirement for completing their Journalism Program at 
Loyalist College, Belleville, Canada.
Their studies include development of community-focused news websites and 
they both have an interest in the Linux and Open Source communities.


New Website Translators

Mohd Hanafiah bin Muhamad: Malaysian
Joseph Cho: Korean


14. A Testimonial of Thanks

 From an anonymous exam candidate which attended the LPI exam lab at 
FreeGeek

"There's actually a chance I'll be able to get the contracting company 
I'm working through to pay for the rest of my exams. I guess they 
usually pay for Microsoft and A+ certifications, but Linux is actually 
an important tool in my group at <...> so I might be able to get them to 
pony up for it. If that happens I may go to one of the computerized 
testing centers, mainly so I can get more immediate feedback.

I'll let you know if I do decide to take more of the exams through 
FreeGeek. I want to thank you and the rest of the staff there again for 
providing the service. I would probably not have started down the LPI 
path at all if it wasn't for you guys making the exams so affordable, 
and I'm really glad I did it."






-- 
Scott Lamberton
Director of Community Relations
Linux Professional Institute
Email: scottl_at_lpi.org
Web: http://www.lpi.org



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