Well folks,
It's been an extreme honor and privilege working with the LPI over
the last, almost, 2 years. I've met some very strong and talented people
in the field and made some great and wonderful friends. Due to some serious
and unexpected changes on the home front, I'm finding it necessary to take
an unknown amount of time away from the LPI. Trust me, I am doing
everything I can to return! I just need to focus on the home front for a
few.
Before that happened, I realize I've never stated why I think the LPI
is so important personally. There is more to the LPI than just it's
members. It's what the members bring to it that makes it what it is.
LPI serves the single greatest need in the professional industry today.
That need is a 'peer level' created, and reviewed, test of a Linux
Administrator's knowledge, skills, and experience held to the standards of
the very public it serves. That last part, in and of itself, is the LPI's
greatest strength.
Since the LPI contains equal contributing members from both sides of the
proverbial Houses of Power, executive and the technically steeped, a marriage
of all sides of business infrastructure and technical personel requirements is
met. (Let's face it folks. Both sides of the coin have different
requirements for the same face. That's a part of business.)
The LPI has also served to change the way people from both sides view
certifications. Managers now have a yardstick they know they can implictly
trust, knowing it's been reviewed rigoriously for depth of knowledge, and
breth of experience. IS Seniors get their glimpse of this as well, finding
the employee's strengths and weaknesses, or area of expertise which helps
to place new employees quicker. This communal work has shown that
an effective force CAN be made of open communication.
By the community openly reviewing the test topics, items, and questions it
assures itself of survival of a meaningful test and certification.
Constant additions of new subjects, as they become the norm, helps to keep
the certification fresh and pertinent. This above all is what matters. If
the tested material is not pertinent, whether by question content or by
trade changes, then the certification is not truly a valid indicator.
I think the LPI has achieved that balance. As businesses continue to move
towards more and more linux machines in mission critical slots, it's
imperative that such a test exist. Here it serves both a two-fold role.
Adequate testing of staff, and increased trust in the decision to dedicate
further mission critical sections with Linux machines.
If the truth be told, I think the LPI has the potential to go further
especially with an LPIC-3 technical specialty test. Since business can
directly impact the entire process, from design to beta, the depth of
testing can reach staggering precision. All off publicly crafted and
reviewed material! One of the greatest tools Linux has given the general
business public is the freedom to use, create, modify, and contribute to
it's own success. The LPI provides a an effective way to measure the
engineers responsible for building the technological framework to that success.
Certification processes created and reviewed by the members that
they serve ensures the quality and applicability of that certification.
There is no getting around it. The LPI has proven that it works.
For me, it's been a journey. I've learned many things from many people,
I've been allowed to contribute back. As I said, I do plan on returning to
the field. Leave me a pen and pad ready. LPIC-9 here we come!
--
David D.W. Downey
Creator - KiXO Linux
RHCE - Cert.#: 806100581800665
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