On Thu, Aug 16, 2001 at 11:32:13AM -0400, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Adam Turoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > These certifications are not handed out by businesses that charge
> > for training and examination of a specific skill. They are
> > examinations to determine the competence of the applicant to enter
> > the professional society. Entrance in the professional society is
> > an assertion by that society that a person has the requisite skills
> > and moral/ethical grounding to perform the job they seek to perform.
>
> Excellent answer.
>
> Doesn't this indicate that we should be in the business of offering
> not-for-profit Perl certification (without offering training), both
> as a good in and of itself and also to establish a Good Example for
> others?
No. There is much more to professional societies than non profit status.
The bar association can disbar a lawyer for unethical conduct. Physicans
and Engineers can lose their professional standing because an unacceptable
lapse led to the loss of human life.
Do you propose that we create a certification agency that would
disallow someone from programming in Perl? What egregious lapse
would cause that to happen -- and what would/should we classify as
egregious? None of the IT certifications I've seen have provisions
for that, save the limited lifespan of certification credentials.
Z.
