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March 6, 2000

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Ramping Up The Linux Learning Curve
Training courses and certification programs increase, but there's no central authority yet

By Judith N. Mottl

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wo years ago, most IT folks would have been hard- pressed to find a basic Linux operating-system course for the taking, and the concept of certification wasn't even discussed in Linux user groups. Today, Linux courseware is a growing field, and the first classes of Linux certified system and network administrators are taking home their diplomas.

When Linus Torvalds uploaded his homegrown Unix-based operating system to the Internet for public input in 1991, the Swedish college student never expected his kernel would become the fastest-growing operating system. According to Media Metric, an Internet research firm, about 1.35 million copies of Linux were sold last year for $32 million, or 25% of the 5.4 million total copies of operating-system software. Linux is now the second most popular server operating system, trailing Windows NT, which sold 2.1 million copies worth $1.7 billion.

Linux's appeal lies in its open-source environment, stability, and low cost. Users can modify code for particular needs, and advocates say that means less maintenance and labor. Moreover, because Linux runs on Alpha, Intel, and SunSparc processors, some favor it over many well-established competitors. But Linux is still most widely adopted as a Web server platform. The main obstacle to Linux's gaining broad acceptance throughout companies, according to those in the industry, is the lack of an industry-accepted certification process for Linux technicians, primarily system and network administrators.

That's about to change. "A year ago, Linux training and certification programs weren't even heard of, but there's been a big change in the last six months," says Dave Murphy, membership director of the 3,500-member International Association of IT Trainers, a global professional society in Elkridge, Md.

Murphy and others see a strong push into training and certification by leading Linux vendors Red Hat Inc. and Caldera Systems Inc., and by the Linux Professional Institute, a nonprofit industry group formed in October. But which of the three Linux certification programs will predominate and who will assess their quality are the big questions now. Unlike Microsoft and Novell certification, there is no central Linux authority to say what certification standards should include. And because of its open-source nature, everyone is free to start a certification program. For example, Linux distributors that want to boost customer support and product marketing were the first to map out training and certification paths-but their training is vendor-specific and certified by that vendor.

Red Hat-first in the Linux market with its Red Hat Linux package-is the market leader. It has partnerships with IBM, Intel, Netscape, and several other major IT vendors. Red Hat began offering Linux training in May in response to customer and reseller demand, says Carolyn Sparano, Red Hat director of services. "The goal is to make the Red Hat experience available to the user community," Sparano says. About 2,000 technicians have participated in Red Hat's educational courses, and 600 have passed the Red Hat Certified Engineer program. To extend its training nationwide, Red Hat in July partnered with Global Knowledge Network, the largest independent IT training firm.

Red Hat Certified Engineer certification requires a student to pass a performance-based lab exam for installing and configuring Red Hat Linux and related skills, Sparano says. Red Hat is developing an advanced level, to be introduced sometime this year. The vendor also offers a Red Hat Developer training program. The training initially was launched for resellers and clients; now it's available to the public user community. The failure rate for Red Hat's certification was high at first-about 40% of students didn't pass the first time. The company says it has since reviewed and adjusted prerequisites.

Caldera, which sells the OpenLinux product line, launched training and certification to resellers in September 1998. Last April, it formally introduced Linux courses as part of its Education Services unit and added a second course, as well as certification prep classes. Unlike Red Hat, Caldera aimed from the start to provide more than vendor-specific training and certification.

"We understand that in the real world, there is a need to learn Linux," says Jim Higgins, Caldera's education marketing manager. The company's certification prep courses include installation instruction on six versions, including OpenLinux.

Bill Humphrey, consultant Photo by Ray Ng Bill Humphrey, a certified public accountant who provides business and computing consulting to small and midsize businesses, had very little formal network training when he added Linux to his service offerings in August. To get up to speed quickly, he started with Caldera's five-day introductory course after seeing the OpenLinux product at a trade show. "The class introduced me to Linux and many of the unique abilities that it offers," says Humphrey, who runs Otago Linux Systems in Boulder, Colo.

Humphrey became a Caldera Business Partner after his first course. He plans to take his third one-week course this spring and acquire LPI certification in the next nine months. "For Linux to be accepted by the business community, it needs to make the easy stuff easy-the basic everyday operation of the system," he says.

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