From: Lennart Sorensen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Certainly not in the past they didn't.  They explicitly
> said you could.

I had recruiters have me take these many times.  They
explicitly had me pledge not to do so.

> Just because I can't remember an obscure option I never use
> doesn't mean I don't know what I am doing.  A paper only test
> tends to encounter such problems.

Such questions are the lowest form of Bloom's.  They should
be avoided or minimized in such tests.  There are better ways
to test such concepts than with options.

> I wrote the LPIC 101 once at a linux show some years ago. 
> My score reflects a lot more on LPIC than on my skill
> level as a linux administrator.

Some would, and could, argue that even the RHCE does that.
Hell, screw up SELinux, and you could get a big fat 0 on the
second part of the RHCE, regardless of what else you did.

> Hands on is certainly the best.

Depends on your viewpoint.

> Are certifications that specialized actually useful?

I've had several clients asking for the RHCA.  That
requires passing 5 exams at the 400 level (after the
single 300 level RHCE).

Now that the RHCDS is here, and it only requires 3 exams
after the RHCE (instead of 5 like the RHCA), several clients
are starting to use that as a "differential."

> What are the chances of needing anyone with exactly that
> specialization and wanting proof of exactly that skillset?

Oh, I don't know, maybe perhaps ...

1.  Deployment, Virtualization, and Systems Management
2.  Directory Services and Authentication
3.  Clustering and Storage Management

Which is basically ...

1.  Provision, deploy and manage systems, including virtual
2.  Centralize authentication, users, systems and other objects
3.  Manage access to and the storage itself, including clusters 

I just read off the Red Hat Certified Datacenter Specialist
(RHCDS).  There is a _huge_ difference being able to manage
a RHEL system (RHCT), plus services (RHCE), and being able
to manage a datacenter.  ;)

Companies are using Xen paravirt.  Companies do deploy
Red Hat Network (RHN) Satellite (and don't just use the
Internet hosted RHN service), as well as various, emerging
technologies (ET) that Red Hat is integrating into it.
Companies (and entire governments/military branches ;) deploy
Red Hat Directory and Certificate Services.  And companies
do really rely on clusters on RHEL, both native and 3rd party
(which have underlying components still provided by RHEL).

You asked.  I'm not saying "Red Hat is great."  I'm answering
the question you had.  And that's before we even look at the
SELinux-specific exams, tuning exam (which is damn fine for
Linux in general -- highly recommend the RH442 course, even
if you don't have a RHCE, you can sit it, just not the EX442
exam), etc...

> Some people will do anything to get a piece of paper that
> makes other people think they know stuff.

You can't worry about them.  Inhibit them, yes.  But worry?
They sign an agreement.  When they cheat, they compromise
everything the certification means for them, especially to
themselves.

> Well that would be pretty nuts, but then again some people
> cheat in university and how much does that cost?

Only once did I have to "read the riot act" to some people
in my Differential Equations class.  Really pissed me off
when they merely didn't hurt the curve, but felt like they
discredited the institution I attended -- which, at all other
times, I never saw any cheating whatsoever.

> Is the $10000 for a training course or is it just for a
> piece of paper you can show around?

If an exam took all week, it would be at least $5,000, if
not $10,000.  Basically figure $1,000 for every 4 hours.

> A training course is useful.  A $10000 piece of
> paper probably isn't.  At least LPIC doesn't charge
> anything like that.

LPIC doesn't focus on training.

> I think the only winner in a market where a certification
> can cost $10000 is the provider of the certification.
> Sounds like a profitable business.

Red Hat charges around $750 to sit their 4-6 hour exams.
That covers the real cost of the 1-2 system you will have
in front of you, the facilities, etc...


-- 
Bryan J Smith        Professional, Technical Annoyance
[EMAIL PROTECTED]  http://www.linkedin.com/in/bjsmith
------------------------------------------------------
I'm a PC, but Linux -- Windows: Life Without Firewalls


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