[KLUG Members] RE: Certification -- WAS: Nautilus in RH 7.3 and Samba shares...revisited...

[Matty]

On Thu, 2002-12-05 at 15:57, Bryan J. Smith wrote:
> 
> [ Since this involves "professional development," I assume it's "on-topic" for
> the MEMBERS list?  If not, let me know. ]
> 
> Quoting Tahnesha Pinckney <tep@hanify.com>:
> > I was considering RHCE as well (maybe I wouldn't be having all these
> > probs..), but could not negotiate a "business" reason in my request to
> > have the firm fund it.  They would only cave in on the MCSE since most
> > of our systems here are running WinNT 4.0 and a migration to 2000
> > looms on the horizon...
> 
> The RHCE is $749 and is only given on a Friday at an approved RedHat facility. 
> This is, again, because it is lab-based, a full day long, and 100% peer-reviewed
> (not "computer graded") -- purposely designed after the Cisco CCIE (only 2.5
> hours of "build" and 2.5 hours of "debug" -- instead of a day each like the CCIE).
> 
> There are three other organizations providing Linux certifications, and all are
> "computer administered" (unlike the RedHat cert):
> - CompTIA Linux+:  Single test
> - Linux Professional Institute:  Multiple tests/levels
> - SAIR GNU Linux:  Multiple tests/levels
> 
> > Their Network+ and Server+ courses are quite good...
> 
> Er, I beg to differ.  I got a 93% on both with 0 study, and you only need
> ~65-70% to pass.  They were "definition tests" IMHO.
> 
> I found the first half of Sun's Solaris Certified Network Administrator (SCNA)
> exam that govered "general TCP/IP concepts" to be a far better test of
> "knowledge" than the Network+ by an order of magnitude.
> 
> BTW, I also scored 93% on the i-Net+ and 95% on the Linux+.  I scored perfect on
> both sections of the new, adaptive A+ -- they couldn't ask a hard enough
> question for me.  They asked me to become a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for the
> A+, but their terms didn't appeal to me.
> 
> > both of which I'm taking as well.  I wouldn't be the surprised if
> > the Security+ is just the same.
> 
> I'm hoping so because, like the Network+ and Server+, I'm taking it "straight
> up," no study.
> 
> > As for the MCSEs, I'm taking the first exam at the end of the
> > month which, if you ask me, seems like a very simple exam to pass in
> > comparision to all the Linux/Unix stuff I'm trying to learn.
> 
> The problem with "computer administered" exams is that they are either:
>  1) Simple -- e.g., CompTIA
>  2) Memorization -- e.g., Sun, or

I concur with this. When I passed my SCDME w/ SDS/VxVM & SCBRE w/
Netbackup, I was not impressed with the format. I over prepared for
both. I do like it that Cisco has added a simulator to their tests. If
they could test real world debugging skills (system A can send packets
to system B, but B cannot send them to system A, given Router X,Y & Z,
and Path A,B & C, find the problem OR find the root bridge in a large
spanning tree domain, etc.). 

>  3) Ambiguous -- e.g, Microsoft
> 
> CompTIA makes the tests simple.  Sun and Microsoft make them harder to pass by
> either extensive "memorization" or "ambiguous" questions.
> 
> The only "real exam" is one that is given in a lab environment, on real systems.
>  That way, you're not screwed if you don't know something little, and nothing is
> ambiguous -- _but_ you have to know what you are doing to pass.
> 
> That's why the RHCE is ones of the best tests of actual "knowledge."  The trade
> off is the cost of administering them, which means the cost of the exam for the
> trainee, and the availability of them is limited to fixed locations where there
> is the actual equipment and an authorized, peer RHCE to grade you.
> 
> Cisco tries to thrown in "simulations" in its computer administered tests (most
> things outside of the CCIE).  While these do enough, there are usually only a
> few per exam.
> 
> Novell adds "screen shots" and "click throughs."  While these make it better
> than Microsoft's "case study" and ambiguous questions, it's still far from
> lab-based exams.
> 
> -- 
> Bryan J. Smith, E.I. (BSECE)       Contact Info:  http://thebs.org
> [ http://thebs.org/files/resume/BryanJonSmith_certifications.pdf ]
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>   The more government chooses for you, the less freedom you have.
> 
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-- 
Ryan Matteson - UNIX Administrator
GPG ID: 1B52A210 2002-12-01 Ryan Matteson (Primary Key Pair)
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