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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
(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]...