Mark Scholten wrote:
> I would prefer it to include multiple editors. Eg the 5 most used.
I think this would be a singularly unproductive idea, for the following
reasons:
– Right now people are forced to learn at most one editor they don't like
(namely vi). With this approach it is virtually guaranteed that everyone
will have to learn four editors they don't like.
– Right now the exam has 3 questions on vi. If we were to cover more
editors, it stands to reason that the number of questions on text editing
would have to be increased to be commensurate with the time people have
to spend on learning the topic, but we don't really have questions to
spare. If anything, the number of questions on vi should be *decreased*
in order to be able to ask more questions on more important topics.
– We have been fighting hard to reduce the number of objectives on the
exams that are basically kitchen-sink type lists of various programs
that all do more or less the same thing, and which were at some point
added simply because whoever was in charge at that time didn't want to
piss people off by excluding their favourite piece of software. For
example, LPIC-2 used to cover, at some depth, four different MTAs
(Sendmail, Postfix, Exim and Qmail), but we managed to bring that down to
Postfix plus some Sendmail plus knowing that Exim and Qmail exist. It is
reasonable to say that if you have studied one MTA in detail it will
not be too difficult to transfer that knowledge to other MTAs.
In the same spirit, what is important to most people as far as editors
are concerned is muscle memory, and it's simply not worth the trouble
to ask questions on a whole bouquet of different editors that nobody will
all be using at the same time, anyway. People can get by with at most two
editors, namely their favourite editor and vi, and it is reasonable to
require some vi on the exam if we must, but we can't cover everyone's
favourite non-vi editor or even the four most popular of those (by
whose count, anyway?), too.
Anselm
--
Anselm Lingnau … Linup Front GmbH (MAX21) … Linux- & Open-Source-Schulungen
anselm.ling...@linupfront.de, +49(0)6151-9067-0, Fax -299, www.linupfront.de
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