The Linux institute is supported primarily by contributions from business and individual sponsors, and its advisory council boasts not only major Linux and computing vendors and training providers, but even Novell, a Linux competitor.

While York acknowledges that adoption by businesses is the primary goal of any Linux certification process, he says there's a slew of other reasons also dictating the need for a vendor-neutral training process. "The easiest way to gain corporate, governmental, and institutional support of Linux is to ensure that there is a bona fide support mechanism in place," York says. "But certification also provides industry recognition, an academic path for students, and a mechanism for training centers and recruiting new Linux users."

The Linux Professional Institute is developing three levels of certification exams and is tabulating results of the first exam taken by 50 students in late 1999. The first level will feature three exams: a general Linux exam, an advanced-level exam, and an exam certifying specialization in a specific distribution system such as Red Hat Linux. Levels 2 and 3, still in development, will offer advanced administration certification.

York says the institute's certification will provide employers with a standard gauge to "measure technical quality and competitiveness of a given candidate." The program targets system and network administrators, job titles seen as "high growth" for Linux support, York says. When the Linux institute revealed that certification exams were in development, 1,900 interested students immediately registered for E-mail notification of exam dates. When the first exam went live, 300 registered within 48 hours.

According to IT trainers, students started seriously seeking Linux courses six to eight months ago. And while the first wave appeared to be mostly Unix programmers, today's Linux classes are a thorough mix of professionals, causing trainers to scramble to offer new courses. "We've had Christmas tree vendors, truck drivers, as well as the Unix guy who wants to extend his skills and the new college grad who wants in with Linux," says Martin Thisner, marketing manager at Unitek Information Systems, a Fremont, Calif., technical education center and consulting firm.

A longtime Microsoft certification vendor, Unitek is one of many training vendors pumping Linux instruction into their educational courseware mix. Unitek recently became a Caldera Systems Authorized Education Center providing Linux training and education. "Until now, Linux was a cult, but now it's moving into the mainstream. That's where the need for training and certification come in," Thisner adds.

ProsoftTraining.com in Austin, Texas, added Linux certification training in December. Its Linux Fundamental and Linux System and Network Administration courses, which make up a five-day program, prepare students for a Certified Administrator exam available at Sylvan Prometric testing centers. "As Linux gains in popularity and gets more commercial, there's a need for training and certification. It's in the early stages and there's a lot of different choices," says Jerry Baird, ProsoftTraining.com's CEO and chairman.

Murphy of the International Association of IT Trainers says his organization saw the Linux trend spike about six months ago, and trainers are now trying to get up to speed on Linux curricula. "We have clients asking us if we can design Linux training materials," says Murphy, "and yet trainers themselves have to get up to speed."

Linux supporters say the market for the operating system will continue to grow for several reasons: It's not too difficult to grasp, it's similar to Unix, and it doesn't require as much administration as competing systems. Experienced Unix gurus can expect to achieve Linux certification in about two to four months-half the time it would take to become a Microsoft network engineer or system administrator.

Also, since Linux was embraced from the start by the programming and developer communities, it's likely that many IT professionals have been tinkering with it for quite a few years. "Even if you're coming in off the street, it's easier to become a Linux system administrator than, say, a Microsoft Certified Network Engineer. If you've already worked with Unix, part of the battle has been fought," Thisner says.

For businesses new to Linux, "the logical first line of employees to be trained should be existing network administrators, and the training should come before deployment," says Bruce MacKay, a consultant and instructor with Crypt Data Consulting Inc., in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Along with network administrators, system administrators should be trained, he says. MacKay, who has worked with Linux since 1993 and has been an IT instructor since 1995, is certified through Caldera's program. While a Linux operating system may be less work to maintain in terms of network administration, MacKay warns that companies should not be too lax in staff preparation.

Humphrey warns that the "overall learning curve" of Linux as opposed to other operating-system training may actually be longer since there are so many versions of Linux. Nevertheless, he says he doesn't believe a comprehensive Linux education is always required. "In my experience, businesses that use Linux as a server integrated with a Windows network don't have much interaction with Linux. It should be a simple matter of getting an understanding of general Linux administration," he says.

Specifically with small business, Humphrey doesn't always see the need for a dedicated "Linux guy." Unlike Windows, which he says requires constant tinkering, reconfiguration, and rebooting, Linux solutions require less maintenance. "The price and flexibility provide users with a viable solution for simple problems," he says. "A company doesn't have to adopt Linux as its sole operating system. Most businesses probably have an old computer sitting on a shelf which could provide value as a Linux server."

At this point, with Linux adoption going strong, students will continue to line up for certification programs.

But just which of the current standards-or one not even on the scene yet-will become the Linux certification leader probably won't be clear for at least a year.

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Photo of Dan York by Phillip Ryan
Photo of Bruce MacKay by Len Wagg