[NTLUG:Discuss] Linux Certifications

[Christopher Browne]

On Tue, 21 Mar 2000 08:10:59 CST, the world broke into rejoicing as
MadHat <madhat at unspecific.com>  said:
> Opinionated wrote:
> > expertise of the Linux membership, could come up with their own
> > certification for reasonable cost, and the certification would carry the
> > same 'weight' in linux credentials as LPI, SAIR, etc.  (I'd help, but I
> > can't set up the certification tests on my own).
> 
> What would be the use?  If too many people try to do Linux Certs, none
> of them will ever mean anything.  If NTLUG did a cert, who would see
> that peice of paper any differently than the peice of paper that you get
> from Global Knowledge or RedHat.  Becides without a major company, like
> RH or Caldera backing the Cert, who is going to place confidence in the
> cert?

I disagree with "opinionated's" comments here from two perspectives:

a) I've been monitoring the LPI mailing list for rather a while, and
   they have run into a number of "challenges" that are inherent to
   building such a program that an "NTLUG Certification" would also
   encounter.  

   Silly little things like "What do we call it?" (Some would like the
   word "engineer" in it; this presents certain legal challenges.)

   Practical questions of how to put a test together, and administer
   it in a way that will allow Pointy-Haired Bosses to have a warm,
   fuzzy feeling about it having a trustworthy process.

   An "NTLUG certificate" would have to go through much the same pains,
   which amounts to a *lot* ofdiscussion and effort.

   which leads to...

b) NTLUG is, in some ways, just some pieces of paper that say that it's
   a corporation.  Some of those pieces of paper indicate that it has
   a bank account with a couple thousand dollars; but it doesn't amount
   to all that much.

   Supposing there is to be an "NTLUG Certification," this requires
   having a sizable group of a strange thing known as "people
   volunteering."

   We could probably use a couple more people helping out at LIP
   (Linux Installation Project) that haven't come forth.

   Starting a "NTLUG Linux Certification Project" would require that
   there be a significant body of individuals that feel strongly about
   donating a *big* chunk of their time and responsibility to the
   effort.

   When I consider that the *prime* value of certifications is to provide
   something that only the "Pointy Haired Bosses" and technically-unclued
   HR departments are *really* going to value, I figure that it's wiser
   to let responsibility to head to SAIR/LPI/Caldera/RHAT, and let the
   people paid there to deal with the grief deal with the grief.

Yes, the original message was a troll; a drive-by "flaming" by someone
that thinks that other people should volunteer to do work that he
can't/won't.
--
"I really only meant to point out how nice InterOp was for someone who
doesn't have the weight of the Pentagon behind him.  I really don't
imagine that the Air Force will ever be able to operate like a small,
competitive enterprise like GM or IBM." -- Kent England
cbbrowne at hex.net - <http://www.hex.net/~cbbrowne/lsf.html>