[lpi-discuss] obsolete course material

[Anselm Lingnau]

Siavash Sefidvash wrote:

> Viasinc are supposed to be approved by LPI yet
> I have noticed they include Yum package manager as part of the
> objectives when  at the same time I notice OpenSuse is not using it
> anymore.

This may come as a bit of a surprise but the LPI exam isn't actually about 
what openSUSE is using for anything, unless by coincidence. (You may have 
noticed the conspicuous absence of any mention of YaST, for example.)

LPI, on its web site at <URL:http://www.lpi.org>, publishes fairly detailed 
»objectives« that specify what the exams ARE, in fact, about, and training 
materials are usually written to those specifications. Linux distributions 
present something of a moving target, and it is neither desirable nor feasible 
for LPI exams to track every distribution in the short term. Theoretically, 
the exam contents are reviewed every 2½ years, and when LPI-101 comes up for 
review and if openSUSE's package-management-solution-of-the-month is, at that 
moment, perceived to have enough traction to be included in a distribution-
independent certification then maybe that will go in.

> Is anyone here using Viasinc? Can anyone from LPI confirm
> Viasinc's approval rating?

As far as LPI approval for training materials goes, LPI Inc. has recently gone 
off the idea (although local LPI incarnations may continue the program under 
their own auspices). If the Viasinc materials do cover YUM it is likely that 
they are indeed written to the 3.0, i.e., current version of the LPIC-1 
objectives, and so you should be OK if you use them for preparation. (I have 
never seen them, so cannot comment on whether they are actually any good from 
a didactic point of view, and anyway I write commercial training materials 
myself and so would have to recuse myself from commenting on our competitors.)

Just ditch that openSUSE and get yourself a copy of Fedora or (possibly even 
better) CentOS if you want to look at a distribution that actually uses what's 
on the exam.

Anselm
-- 
Anselm Lingnau ... Linup Front GmbH ... Linux-, Open-Source- & Netz-Schulungen
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