From: "Dan York" <dyork@lodestar2.com>
To: <lwn@lwn.net>
Subject: LPI News - May 18, 1999
Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 06:14:48 -0400


==============================================
May 18, 1999 Linux Professional Institute News
==============================================

Greetings!  It's been over a month or so since I last sent out
a summary of what all is going on within the various parts of
the LPI project.  This message, as per usual, will be quite long
as there is simply too much to report!

First, though, I just have to make the comment that this project
is a classic case of the incredible power of many people working
together to accomplish a common goal.  We've come a very long way
in a very short time - and could not have done it without all the
help and support of all of you out there reading this.  Thank you!

In this update, I will cover:

  - What You Can Do, including:
       > Test objectives
       > Distribution Differences Project
       > Logo Contest
       > Sponsorship Program
       > Publicity
  - LinuxExpo News: BOF, HotStuff Challenge, Advisory Council, Board
  - Advisory Council: New members!
  - Development Plan
  - Job Analysis Survey: Preliminary Results & Recognition
  - Exam Delivery Timeframes: July!
  - Unsolicited Email to Our List Members
  - Mailing-List Archives
  - LPI Incorporation

If you have any questions or comments about this update, please do
not hesitate to contact me.  Thank you again for your support.

Regards,
Dan

---------------------------------------------
Dan York, Chair, LPI Board of Directors
dyork@linuxcare.com    http://www.lpi.org/
Phone: (603)268-0691   Fax: (603)268-0103
---------------------------------------------

=============================================
WHAT YOU CAN DO
=============================================
There are a great number of ways you can help make the LPI project
a reality.  Here is a quick "Top 10" list:

1. JOIN US AT THE LINUXEXPO BOF SESSION

    If you are going to LinuxExpo next week in Raleigh, NC, there
    is a "Birds-Of-a-Feather" session scheduled for Thursday,
    May 20, at 6:30 pm.  It is currently being held in Room D and
    is called "Linux Skills Certification".  We'll have the whole
    Steering Committee there, as well as some Advisory Council folks,
    so come on by and join in the discussion face-to-face.

2. ATTEND THE LINUXEXPO "HOT STUFF CHALLENGE"

    Do you like hot sauces?  Do you want to watch our own Evan
    Leibovitch break into a sweat?  What started as a dare is turning
    into a major event at LinuxExpo... Evan will be squaring off against
    Jon "maddog" Hall (Linux International) and several others to see
    who can handle the hottest sauces out there!  Join the fun on
    Friday, May 21, from 12:45-1:45.  The location is apparently in
    the "arena," wherever that might be.  Watch for signs.

3. VISIT THE LPI WEB SITE

    Okay, it's not as fun as hot sauces, but if you haven't checked
    out the LPI web site lately, you really should visit http://www.lpi.org/
    Chuck Mead has joined Evan in maintaining the site and they've given
    it a complete facelift!  Chuck has more ideas, too... so watch for
    more coming soon.  Chuck and Evan also want all the feedback you
    can give them, so please visit and send comments to "info@lpi.org".

4. HELP FINALIZE OUR FIRST LEVEL OBJECTIVES

    We would like your feedback on the draft test objectives for our
    first two exams.  After the extensive job skills analysis we undertook
    back in April, Scott Murray, Tom Peters, Alan Mead, Chuck and others
    have spent a considerable amount of time analyzing the data and
    constructing exam objectives based on the survey results.  Those
    draft objectives for the first level of exams (two exams) are now
    posted online in a system through which you can provide feedback.
    Please visit:

        http://www.lpi.org/cgi-bin/poms.py

    Your assistance in finalizing these objectives is critical!

5. HELP ANALYZE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LINUX DISTRIBUTIONS

    We need your help documenting the detailed differences between the
    distributions of Linux.  Faber Fedor (revf2@interactive.net) has
    agreed to coordinate a project to document the differences.  He is
    looking for other volunteers to assist.  Visit:

        http://userweb.interactive.net/~revf2/LPI/

    to see the work that has been done to date by Faber and other
    volunteers.  Please send any feedback you can to Faber.  You can
    also visit the archives for the "linux-cert-program" list at:

        http://lists.linuxcare.com/linux-cert-program/threads.html

    to see messages relating to the project.  All of this work will go
    into creating the distribution-specific exams that are part of our
    first level of certification.

6. PARTICIPATE IN OUR LOGO CONTEST

    If you haven't checked out the latest round of LPI logos, visit:

        http://www.lpi.org/logo_contest.html

    We're running an informal poll on our web site.  Let us know what
    you think about the designs!  The page certainly shows that there
    are some very talented people out there!  Thanks are due to all
    those who have submitted logos... they look great!

    By the way, we're still accepting more logos if you'd like to
    contribute one.  See the page for details.

7. BECOME A FINANCIAL SPONSOR

    Creating a high-quality certification program such as this costs
    a significant amount of money.  We recently unveiled our sponsorship
    program for both businesses and individuals at:

        http://www.lpi.org/sponsorship.html

    We will be announcing some major corporate sponsors at LinuxExpo and
    would ask you all to circulate the news to others.  If either
    your company or you individually would be interested in donating,
    we would certainly be interested to talk to you.  If you think your
    company might be interested, but are uncomfortable bringing the matter
    up, please feel free to contact us and we'll be glad to make the approach.

    Please direct all sponsorship inquiries to either myself
    (dyork@linuxcare.com) or Chuck Mead (chuck@moongroup.com).

    Please note that while we are incorporating as a nonprofit corporation,
    we are not (yet, anyway) a "tax-exempt" entity by U.S. IRS tax guidelines.
    Donations to LPI are *not* tax-deductible in the U.S. as charitable
contributions.
    (But there may be other ways to deduct such contributions - contact
    an accountant for details - and hey, it's for a good cause anyway!)

8. HELP WITH OUR PUBLICITY WATCH

    With so many information technology publications out there - both in
    print and on the web, it's next-to-impossible to stay up-to-date on
    what's being said all over the place about Linux certification.
    We'd like your help.  When you see an article (either in print or
    online) about Linux certification, can you please send us the info
    (article title, publication, date, URL if on the web).  Either send
    it directly to "linux-cert-pr" if you are a member of that list
    (if not, consider joining!) or email it to Evan (evan@lpi.org)

    You can see the list of what has been posted at:

        http://lists.linuxcare.com/linux-cert-pr/threads.html

    Messages sent to linux-cert-pr appear on the archive within an hour.

9. WRITE OR SPEAK ABOUT LPI AND LINUX CERTIFICATION

    To date, much of the writing and speaking about LPI and our efforts
    to create a Linux certification program has been by members of
    the Steering Committee such as Evan and I.  But please know that we
    are not at all exclusive about that and would encourage others to
    help out with writing and/or speaking about LPI and Linux certification.

    Many web sites are looking for people to write articles and we'd love
    to see more articles out there about Linux certification and LPI. If
    you know of a site looking for articles, please go ahead and write one.
    We'll be glad to provide some information or assistance if you need it.
    Also, if you'd like to write articles, drop us a note and we may be
    able to steer you to places where they are looking for writers (usually
    the online sites are looking for writers who will write for free).

    Print publications are good, too.  For instance, I'll have an article
    in the June ";login:" published by USENIX and then an article in the
    July "Linux Journal."  Scott Murray & Alan Mead are planning to submit
    an article on their survey process to a psychometrics journal.  Articles
    might be appropriate for local or regional newsletters for training
    organizations, user groups, etc.

    Also, if you're interested in speaking to local groups, we will soon be
    making some presentations available online (in Applixware format so
    far, probably HTML, too) that you could use.  For instance, Faber
    may soon be speaking to a local association of technical educators
    in his state.

    If you are interested in writing or speaking, please feel free to
    contact either Evan (evan@lpi.org) or I (dyork@linuxcare.com).  Feel
    free, too, to go ahead and just write... we'll be glad to look over
    articles if you'd like us, too.

10. WRITE QUESTIONS FOR OUR EXAMS

    Very shortly, Scott Murray, our director of exam development, will be
    putting out a call for "item writers" to write questions for our first
    level exams.  Item writers will receive some instruction in the types
    of questions we are seeking and then will write items that will be
    submitted to an extensive technical review and evaluation process.
    Writers of items that survive the initial screening and alpha testing
    will receive compensation for their work.

    If you want to be sure that our exams are much tougher than MCSE and
    CNE, than participate in the item writing process and give us your
    toughest questions.

    Please contact Scott Murray (scott@lpi.org) now if you would be interested
    in being an item writer when we begin the process.

11. JOIN OUR MAILING LISTS

    Okay, there's actually an eleventh point.  If you haven't joined one
    of our committee mailing lists, where more of the work is going on, visit:

        http://www.lpi.org/involved.html

    and sign up to help us out!

=============================================
LINUXEXPO NEWS
=============================================

As mentioned previously, the entire LPI Steering Committee/Board will be
at LinuxExpo next week in Raleigh, NC.  We would like to thank three
LPI Advisory Council members for their assistance with this:

  - Caldera Systems for providing airfare
  - Linuxcare for covering hotel costs
  - Red Hat Software for covering LinuxExpo registration fees

With their help, we will be able to have the first face-to-face meeting
of the entire board.

As stated earlier (#1 & #2 above), there will be a BOF session at
LinuxExpo where many LPI members will be present.  Evan is one of the
BOF hosts, and we look forward to a great discussion with as many of
you all as can make it.  The schedule calls for it to be in Room D on
Thursday at 6:30pm.

We would also like to thank members of the LPI Advisory Committee who
are taking time out of their busy schedules to attend a special meeting
of the Advisory Council at LinuxExpo.  We appreciate their willingness
to provide feedback and support.

=============================================
LPI ADVISORY COUNCIL
=============================================

Speaking of the Advisory Council, we will be making some major
announcements at LinuxExpo of organizations and corporations that
have joined the LPI Advisory Council.  Laying it all out now would
spoil the surprise... but I'll get the word out here as soon as the
news releases are public.  The web site will also be changed at:

   http://www.lpi.org/ac.html

to reflect the new members.  Suffice it to say that it will represent
significant backing from within the computer, publishing and training
industries!


=============================================
DEVELOPMENT PLAN
=============================================

On our web site, you can now find our plan for the development
and implementation of our first level of certification.  The plan,
developed primarily by Scott Murray and Tom Peters, is available at:

    http://www.lpi.org/public_plan.html

The document will be updated over time as our plans evolve.  Please
check it out and send any feedback to Scott (scott@lpi.org) and
Tom (tom@lpi.org).


=============================================
JOB ANALYSIS SURVEY
=============================================

Many of you are aware of the job analysis survey we undertook in early
April.  Scott Murray and Alan Mead, our psychometrics experts, have
finished analyzing the data and have released some preliminary
information at:

    http://www.lpi.org/jasreport.html

There is also a page recognizing many of the 1400 people who participated
in the survey:

    http://www.lpi.org/jasrecognition.html

The survey analysis has lead directly into the development of draft
objectives mentioned earlier in this message. (What You Can Do #4)


=============================================
EXAM DELIVERY TIMEFRAME
=============================================

We are pleased to announce that we intend to deploy our first
three exams through VUE during the first week of July 1999.
That's a very ambitious goal, and there are a number of
issues that could delay that date, but that is our current
target.  In any event, all three exams will go live during July.

Why are we deploying first with VUE (http://www.vue.com/) and not with
Sylvan Prometric (http://www.prometric.com/) who is more widely known?

First, a brief history of computer-based testing is in order.
Drake Testing started up many years ago delivering computer-based
tests.  They were acquired and over time became Sylvan Prometric.
Sylvan essentially had a near-total monopoly on the delivery of
exams, especially in the IT field (and still does in many ways).
Some of the people who originally started Drake thought there ought
to be a better way to deliver exams (from an infrastructure point
of view) and started up VUE as an alternative to Sylvan.  In the
past couple of years, VUE has emerged as a strong competitor to
Sylvan, and is now delivering Microsoft, Novell and other
certification exams.

Today VUE has 1,022 testing centers (compared to Sylvan's 2400)
around the world, with more signing up on a daily basis.  There
may not be eight testing centers within a single city (as there
sometimes is with Sylvan), but the geographic coverage is comparable.

To us, Linux has always been about the freedom to choose: your
operating system, your distribution, your editor, your exam
preparation path, your training center, your author/publisher,
and even... your test vendor.  From the very beginning of our
efforts we have maintained that we would support multiple test
vendors (including both VUE and Sylvan) and specifically indicated
to the vendors that we would not be exclusive.

Second, we learned last month that a for-profit certification
program had signed a contract with Sylvan where it would be the
only Linux certification program offered through Sylvan for six
months from when it signed the contract (April).  Given that
this means we are free to use Sylvan starting in October 1999,
should we so choose, we viewed this then (and continue to do so)
as a trivial issue and are continuing right along with our
deployment plans.

We will reiterate to you all, though, our committment to
operate in the most open and inclusive fashion possible.
We believe that our program - and our activities - should
withstand open competition and the harsh light of public
scrutiny.  Only through that process, we believe, will
we create the strong program that Linux deserves.


=============================================
UNSOLICITED EMAIL TO OUR LIST MEMBERS
=============================================

We have received questions from a number of people about an
unsolicited newsletter sent out by another organization this past
weekend.  Specifically, the question asked was whether we had
provided email addresses as the individuals in question did not
recall asking to receive such newsletters and the messages did
not come through any LPI lists.

We have not provided any such information, nor would we as we do
not believe in sending unsolicited email.  However, we run open
systems and the addresses may have been obtained from our majordomo
list management system or from our web archives.

We would, in fact, encourage other organizations to just
send such messages relating to Linux certification to the
"linux-cert" mailing list.  We don't mind.  The list is
for the open discussion of Linux certification programs.
It's interesting to see what other programs have to offer.


=============================================
MAILING LIST ARCHIVES
=============================================

FYI, archives of all LPI mailing lists can be found at:

   http://lists.linuxcare.com/

Messages posted to an LPI list are posted to the web archives within
an hour.  Note that we are still working on restoring the historical
archives after a server crash, so they only contain recent information.

There is, however, an archive of the "linux-cert" mailing list going
back to last November when this all began.  It is still active and
can be found at:

   http://linux.codemeta.com/archives/linuxcert_archive/

but again, because most of the activity has moved to the committee
mailing lists and the web site, the archive does not reflect the full
range of LPI activity going on today.

=============================================
LPI INCORPORATION
=============================================

And finally, just a brief note about our legal status.  Having
already received corporate sponsorship donations, we have initiated
the process of establishing a not-for-profit corporation based in
New Brunswick, Canada.  New Brunswick was chosen as it is one of
the places (similar to Delaware in the U.S.) where the board of
the organization does not have to physically meet for an annual
meeting.  While we hope that face-to-face meetings of the board
will be possible, given the global nature of LPI's operations we
did not want such a meeting to be required.

The initial Steering Committee (Evan, Scott, Chuck, Tom and I)
will serve as the initial Board of Directors and may also be
considering others for inclusion on the Board.  Board membership
is a completely volunteer activity and is admittedly a heavy
time committment.  More information, including by-laws and other
such documents will be made available on our web site soon.