I knew it wouldn't be long before the no "Ex Post Facto" responses would appear. So this will be my last post on the matter.
FYI, I have no formal relationship with LPI other than a brief exam-writing event in mid-2004. I am a complete outsider and have _no_ loyalty to LPI. I also hold the CompTIA Linux+ and Red Hat RHCE (newer, post-2003 design) too. Alan McKinnon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Sorry, but I must protest this paragraph. I earned my current LPI > certificate at a time (after Sep 2004) when LPI said it WILL be > current for 10 years and thereafter it will be considered inactive > (as opposed to no longer active). And when I obtained my LPIC-1/LPIC-2 during one week in late March 2003, the terms were perpetual, with no declared date of retiring and only the "recommendation" that you recertify periodically (I believe "every 2 years" was the recommendation then as well). Of course, there were also some statements in the terms that the policy was subject to change, based on market conditions, availability of newer exams/levels, etc... ;) > That's what LPI told me when I passed it, and I *expect* LPI to > honour that for the full 10 years. In other words, your upset because you clearly view this change as "Ex Post Facto." I can understand that viewpoint as well. And even if you agreed to terms that allow such (as I did), I can understand how you might view that as "unethical," even if legal and contractually binding. But here's the realities ... 1. From everything I've seen, this isn't for money making purposes, far from it! As I commented before, until LPI gets into training or other promotions, they are about the most innocent organization in the entire IT certification industry you'll find. 2. LPI is putting forth a good amount of developments and investments towards building a complete set of certification tracks. This is clearly factoring into exam and certification retirement. In fact, this is a "good thing" as it only adds value to your LPI certification. 3. You will have an abundance of re-certification opportunities in the near future, due to #2. Prior to these newer developments, there were no options, hence the past policies. It was obvious to me that this would always change as LPI expanded its certification options. 4. Understand that 5 years is a very, very common "continuing education" requirement in just about any profession. I am a traditional engineer (what some call an "Anal Engineer" or "Angineer" ;-) and butt my head against that regularly. Now if you really want to argue the point, understand that LPI could easily "play games." Some examples? A. LPI could introduce a new certification branding, say the LPI Professional (LPIP) for argument's sake. Then the HR departments, head hunters and everyone else would just look for LPIP instead of LPIC, because the latter is older. E.g., I've seen this commonly in the Microsoft world with them looking for a MCSA, even though it is less than the MCSE, because the MCSA began with the 2000 track almost 2/3rds of MCSE professionals are still NT 4.0. B. Possibly in addition to A, LPI could completely dump everything on the LPIC track, make absolutely no reference to it and move the verification page to some remote portion of the site not readily found. And this is just a sample. But instead of devaluing your current certification, LPI is trying to decide how to best continue your certification title in the new reality of its expanded offerings. It's *NOT* requiring you to re-take any of the same exams you did in the past. It only requires you to pass newer exams, ala "continuing education" style. > The market and changing conditions should be the sole factor to > determine the current validity and appropriateness of the > certificate I have for those 10 years, and I object in the > strongest possible terms to a unilateral change from the testing > body. Change the terms for future certifications if you feel > you must, but DO NOT CHANGE what was agreed on in the past. Again, consider LPI could just do "A" or "B" above as well. Instead of drawing a line in the sand and treating LPI like a vendor or other organization that pushes products or training, you could step back and realize the value LPI is trying to add to your certification. You are still LPI certified for eternity, you will just have a status change sooner than you were previously told. If you believe in the LPI proposition and its purpose, you should not complain about this change. It's to protect the value of the brand, including the value it delivers to your professional standing. That's the difference between merely a vendor pushing product / an alleged "independent organization" pushing training and a peer-developed, peer-reviewed, peer-run professional organization meeting the needs by for and of them. That's just my opinion. Again, I can understand the "Ex Post Facto" arguments, and you can "drawing that line in the sand" if you want. Of course, you'll be "sticking your head in the sand" at the same time. You should look at the fact that there are now oasises springing up all around you where you can drink from for little cost. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://thebs413.blogspot.com -------------------------------------------------- Fission Power: An Inconvenient Solution _______________________________________________ lpi-discuss mailing list [email protected] http://list.lpi.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lpi-discuss
