New kids on the block

Very much the new kids on the certification block, the Linux Foundation announced a brand new certification program at LinuxCon in August this year. The details are at http:// training.linuxfoundation.org/certification. The Foundation is offering two certifications, each requiring you to pass just one exam priced at $300. To quote the web site: “A Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator (LFCS) has the skills to do basic to intermediate system administration from the command-line for systems running Linux.” “A Linux Foundation Certified Engineer (LFCE) possesses a wider range and greater depth of skills than the Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator (LFCS). Linux Foundation Certified Engineers are responsible for the design and implementation of system architecture. They provide an escalation path and serve as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) for the next generation of system administration professionals.” So these would seem to be broadly equivalent to the RHCSA and RHCE respectively. As in Red Hat’s certification, exams are performance-based with candidates performing tasks and solving problems using the command-line interface. Unlike with Red Hat, though, you get a choice of which Linux distribution you want to use – currently CentOS 6.4, OpenSUSE 13.1 or Ubuntu 14.01.

A highly innovative feature of the Linux Foundation exams is that you can take them from anywhere – or at least, anywhere with a decent Internet connection. You’ll need to provide your own computer with a Chrome browser, but you don’t need to provide your own Linux installation or VM; you’ll be presented with a VM in your browser window using a terminal emulator. The Linux Foundation provides a compatibility testing tool you use to verify that your system meets the requirements.

Since this arrangement offers opportunities for cheating (the obvious ploy being to bribe a Linux guru to take the exam for you), the entire exam session is monitored by a proctor via streaming audio, video and screen-sharing feeds. The screensharing feed enables proctors to view candidates’ desktops. Having worked occasionally in training environments where remote students had similar upstream feeds, I’m slightly

uncomfortable about how well this will work for candidates with poor bandwidth or high latency connections. Also to prevent substituting a Linux guru to take the test, you have to provide photo ID before the exam.

This is an ingeneous approach to exam taking and it will be interesting to see how it works out.