The Linux Foundation partnership with edX platform is expanding, and users will now get the Essentials of Linux Systems Administration (LFS201) online course.
[The Linux Foundation's courses] that help people make a career out of Linux [...] are provided in different ways, but now they are also available on edX, which is a nonprofit online learning platform launched in 2012 by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The first course was Introduction to Linux (LFS101) and the Linux Foundation says that it has been accessed by 400,000 students, which is actually a very big number. In fact, LFS101 is the biggest course on the edX platform and that says quite a lot.
"The new course, which is appropriate for those who have completed LFS101 and want to take the next step, as well as individuals who have worked in IT positions but not directly with Linux, will be offered for a fee of $499, which includes a Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator exam attempt, a $300 value which includes one free retake if not passed on the first attempt. The course will be offered at an introductory price of only $399 [until June 17]," reads the announcement for The Linux Foundation.
Related: New Linux Foundation Self-Paced Sysadmin Course to Prep you for Certification
"We Want Linux" Say 300,000 edX Students
Free Intro to Linux Course
Original Submission
Related Stories
Brad Rodriguez at Goodbye, Microsoft notes
I just got word of this, from LifeHacker[1]:
Intro to Linux is normally a $2,400 course from the Linux Foundation, but it's being offered for free now on edX. If you've ever wanted to learn how to use the open source operating system, there's no better time than now.
The free course starts on August 1st, but to get the best experience from the class, you should install Linux on your computer before it starts. The Linux Foundation has a helpful guide [Ed's Note: Link unreliable, PDF] for doing just that so you can hit the ground running when the course starts in a couple of days.
The class is designed to give you a good working knowledge of Linux over 40 to 60 hours of course work. It's taught by Dr. Jerry Cooperstein, who oversees all the training content at the Linux Foundation. There's no syllabus for the course yet, but it promises to teach experienced computer users with little or no previous experience with Linux the ins and outs of the OS, from both a command line and graphical perspective.
The edX course is here.
The Linux Foundation reports
We've focused a lot of attention in recent years on making Linux learning materials more accessible to more people. This year, for example, together with our partner edX, we were able to offer our Intro to Linux course for free to nearly 300,000 people from all over the world.
While the United States ranks first in the number of students taking Intro to Linux, it only represents about 30 percent of all class participants. The top geographies include the U.S., India, United Kingdom, Brazil, and Spain. Linux attracted more people with this one course than the number of people who attended all seven games of the recent World Series combined.
What's even more overwhelming is that our Intro to Linux course saw one of the highest enrollments of any class offered on edx.org this year. It's also worth noting that while MOOCs have a reputation for low completion rates among registrants, the Linux course is ranking well above the industry average. This enthusiasm and participation bodes well for the future of Linux and the many individuals getting involved.
Related:
Free Intro to Linux Course
The Linux Foundation announces
2014 was a big year for us in training. We launched a new ground-breaking certification program and released our wildly successful "Introduction to Linux" edX MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), which had roughly 300,000 enrollees.
To build on that, we're excited to announce our first-ever self-paced course that builds on the MOOC and prepares candidates for the LFCS (Linux Foundation Certified SysAdmin) exam: "Essentials of System Administration."
[...]we've included a discounted LFCS exam with the course fee. [...] for a limited time, we're offering this course and certification bundle for $499--an additional $100 discount.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Sunday June 14 2015, @05:12PM
An Advert? I wouldn't mind, but I bet SN didn't even get paid for it
(Score: 4, Insightful) by PizzaRollPlinkett on Sunday June 14 2015, @05:20PM
Free as in ... ??? This is a rant: I get nauseated when I see "Certified System Administrator exam" because it's an artificial barrier to entry - pay to play - in the computer field. Sure, you expect that from Microsoft. But Linux is supposed to be an end run around artificial barriers to entry. This kind of thing is what keeps poor people out of the computer industry, paying for these certifications. If I wasn't so old that I predated this sort of thing I probably would not have been allowed to work in the information technology field because I couldn't afford them. When I see these "Certified System Administrator exam" I see all the bright people who will never get a chance because they can't afford to pay to play. I thought there was a "shortage" of bright people. Guess not.
(E-mail me if you want a pizza roll!)
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Sunday June 14 2015, @05:27PM
I also see a lot of people who won't get jobs because these certifications are a red flag to some employers -- Couldn't learn it on your own, eh?
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Sunday June 14 2015, @05:30PM
You mean those certifications that means certified idiot? ;-)
(some also seems to imply certified fanboy, which can be even worse in a workplace)
(Score: 3, Informative) by ThG on Sunday June 14 2015, @05:53PM
The HRs are the real problem here. They won't hire you without that dumb shit. It's the sole reason the LF introduced those certificates in the first place.
(Score: 3, Informative) by VLM on Sunday June 14 2015, @07:33PM
Cisco supposedly gives you huge $$$ discounts on support contracts. If IBM gives you a discount of 10% on service contracts if over 50% of your employees have some WTF certification... On the other hand I drank the kool aide and did a whole CCNP about a decade ago, totally F'in worthless on the job market. I think my associates degree in electronics gets more respect than that easy cisco cert. And it was easy... I had been doing BGP support for some years so I didn't even study for the "routing" test other than some ISIS cram effort, and it was an easy pass, but even the "switching" test was pretty trivial, so I'm not sure what it really proves.
Another confusion with HR is microsoft ecosystem people don't do github or whatever, all they got is certs, so thats what they have to use. "free software" ecosystem people can just point to their github. So you want to hire an Excel or MSSQL admin you pretty much have to hire based on certs and if you want a linux admin or python developer you pretty much hire off blogs and github and despite decades, HR still doesn't get it and probably never will. Microsoft won't accept github pull requests, ya know.
For contracting its in between. Don't know that guy at all, he somehow passed a cert test, probably knows something.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by tynin on Sunday June 14 2015, @07:57PM
As a linux admin doing devops work who is a few years out from moving (and looking for a new job)... it never dawned on me why so many linux blogs existed. That it would be useful in a hiring scenario never even dawned on me. Hmm. Not sure why this evaded me.
(Score: 1) by wirelessduck on Monday June 15 2015, @01:48AM
Microsoft won't accept github pull requests, ya know.
Someone should mention that to the ASP.NET team on github [github.com]...
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 14 2015, @05:30PM
as a service for our readers.
Normally, if you wanted training to become a Linux sysadmin, you'd have to sign up for a class that could cost thousands of dollars, and might require you to take off time from work.
Now, for selected students who qualify, Linux Foundation is offering an advanced course to the baseline edX program that allows you to do assignments at home and submit in online. And it includes a free mulligan on your exam if things don't go right the first time.
Now how much would you pay?
Through a special arrangement, Linux Foundation is offering this elite advanced offering to students for as little as $499. Contrast that with the $3,499 price of a typical offering from a conventional source!
But wait! There's more. Act now, and you'll get big savings - a one-time, never-to-be-repeated, unprecedented offer of only $399. And that includes your free mulligan on the final exam.
But hurry! This offer ends Wednesday, June 17. Make sure you mention "gewg_" when you sign up.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Sunday June 14 2015, @07:35PM
But hurry! This offer ends Wednesday, June 17. Make sure you mention "gewg_" when you sign up
What do I get if I mention ethanolfueled?
(Score: 2) by cmn32480 on Sunday June 14 2015, @07:49PM
A far reaching knowledge of what beer, wine, and spirits are best for your intended purpose!
"It's a dog eat dog world, and I'm wearing Milkbone underwear" - Norm Peterson
(Score: 2) by JNCF on Monday June 15 2015, @05:45AM
But hurry! This offer ends Wednesday, June 17. Make sure you mention "gewg_" when you sign up
What do I get if I mention ethanolfueled?
Rejected.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Monday June 15 2015, @05:17PM
Wow, my Poe's Law meter just broke. Someone please tell me if this is sarcasm or reality.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Bot on Sunday June 14 2015, @08:45PM
It's nice to see certified people, but if you are in a hurry here's a quick test question to select good sysadmins.
Q: dafuq is systemd?
1: a new fast init system
2: a suite of system tools that will probably end up like android, nominally free software, practically impossible to fork while keeping with the flow.
3: systemd:GNU/Linux = Alien's facehugger:face
The good sysadmin will answer 2 and sadly laugh at 3.
The very good sysadmin will roll off the chair with convulsions when s/he reads the first "systemd"
Account abandoned.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 14 2015, @09:54PM
No, a good system admin would tell you that you're an idiot for bringing up systemd in the first place.
(Score: 3, Touché) by c0lo on Sunday June 14 2015, @10:03PM
Do you imply that Lennart Poettering is hiding behind the SN Bot [soylentnews.org] nick? Have proof?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday June 15 2015, @12:51AM
... when I did phone support for Microport. I've also been paid to do SunOS admin. Of course I've been taking care of my own boxen since I got my first computer in 1986.
I'd like to get back into system administration, but when I look at the job board posts there is no doubt in my mind that I would be regarded as unqualified, this because I use a couple Xen VMs rather than Amazon AWS - they are also very specific about Amazon AWS.
Despite that I did the QA for MacTCP, and so at least at one time was intimately familiar with the RFCs I expect I would be regarded as ignorant of networking.
Someone published what it would be like were carpenters inverviewed like programmers. "Can you do brown paint". "Yeah I paint". "But brown - how many years do you have experience with brown?" "If you want brown paint, I'll paint your house brown". "I'm sorry we can't offer you a position we need someone who can hit the ground running."
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 15 2015, @01:27AM
"Can you do brown paint".
That's funny, but it's not really a good analogy. For example many of us have had experiences hiring an experienced Java programmer who had a tough lime with the idea of memory pointers in C++. As another example, take vi vs. emacs. Of course, they're both just text editors, so anyone with many-years proficiency in one could easily pick up the other and use it exclusively. Except that nobody ever does.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday June 15 2015, @02:04AM
there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that not mentioning git nor github on my resume loses me a lot of jobs.
The reason I don't is that I regard the use of revision control as fundamental to software development these days. Potential employers should simply expect that I know how to use git.
Consider how disruptive it would be were I to shit my pants during a team meeting. Yet I do not list the fact that mommy potty-trained widdle mikey on my resume, I regard volitional bowel control as a very basic job requirement as well.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]