Because I was one of the first people at the VM/VSE Tech Conference to take an LPI certification exam, I was one of the people who obtained a free copy of the O'Reilly "LPI Linux Certification in a Nutshell" book. I would recommend it to anyone who isn't already _very_ familiar with Linux system administration. I took the tests to see just how well I really did know the subject, and to be honest, I was sweating at some points. (Well-learned test-taking skills from college helped out in a number of cases.)
The intent of the book is to prepare people for the LPI 101 and 102 exams, which means that it covers topics that every Linux sysadmin should know and understand. The way the book is written, though, is more than just memorization fodder. It talks about each topic, gives a little context, as well as a fair amount of detail. In other words, it talks about _why_ you would want to know the information, and then how to apply it. It also gives examples, and has sample exam questions (and answers). The layout of the book is by exam topic, which makes it relatively easy to look specific things up. This also lends itself to use as a reference book, which is the intent of most of the "Nutshell" books. I can state from personal experience that you won't find every exam question covered in the book, but that's OK. I don't expect everyone in this mailing list to try to get certified. To my mind, the book is much more valuable than that, anyway. Mark Post
