"Reinier Kleipool" <[email protected]> writes: > Personally I think kernel compilation is a skill that is really only > needed for people working at a distributor; not something system
Hi Reinier, The JTA disagreed with you :) That said, the JTA also made it only 3 questions on the entire exam, if you consider the build and patch objectives (which also include ramfs and initrds and stuff). 2 more, if you consider the knowing the source tree and conceptual things about the kernel. So they aren't very high in the topics to study compared to some others based on weighting. > administrators do on a daily basis. If LPI really wants to go in-depth > with kernel compilation, this would be a nice specialization topic for > LPI-3. Distributors looking for new people then would have an easy > selection criterium. That's not a bad idea. However, I'd think it more appealing to the developer community (and I don't think they'd want to get an LPIC-3 just to get an LPIC-30x Kernel Specialist). Unfortunately, with LPIC-3 exams, the costs of developing them so far have far outweighed the exam fees so this topic as a separate exam may need some companion topics such as driver development or "basic Linux system from scratch" ideas or ... NB: We're going to be starting a thread on the next LPIC-3 exam topics RSN. > LPI-2 is (to my opinion) is aimed at system administrators USING linux in > production environment. IT directors would like to hire LPI-2 people that > understand why *NOT* to compile kernels in production. > > I can see a reason to have some conceptual knowledge about kernel > compilation, > but this should be strictly limited to concepts and the downsides of it. > In a USAGE scenario there is harldy any need to compile kernels. Use > alternatives like sysctl tuning, module loading an maybe dklm... > > To sum up: > The concepts of the kernel building process, the downsides, but not any > "actual" command sequences or options. I'm not certain that I agree 100% with no hands-on compilation knowledge but I also have to admit that I haven't had to compile a kernel in a number of years. Some people do compile them if they need the very latest releases for some reason. I sure don't volunteer for that work, though. That said, I'm open to the idea of dropping more Kernel building objectives from the exam but that will have to wait for the objective refresh in 18-24-ish months from now. Regards, -- g. matthew rice <[email protected]> starnix care, toronto, ontario, ca phone: 647.722.5301 x242 gpg id: EF9AAD20 http://www.starnix.com professional linux services & products _______________________________________________ lpi-examdev mailing list [email protected] http://list.lpi.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lpi-examdev
