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BSD Certification Group Releases Roadmap
Jeremy C. Reed writes "The BSD Certification Group announced on Thursday
the release of their certification program roadmap. This publication
introduces the Group's planned BSD system administrator certifications
and the construction of the certification program.
The press release is available, as well as
the certification roadmap."
...they want to rename "Donate" button to something more complicated...
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This is a certification for a sysadmin, which is a different kettle of fish. Many employers are reluctant to allow sysadmins to learn as they go, they're expected to know what to do when The Bad Thing (TM) happens - fast.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
You said you don't care about or understand the certification.
Makes sense.
You don't care about it because you run 3 different distro's on desktop class hardware in a non mission critical enterprise shop.
You don't understand what is being offered because the problems (and solutions) you face in your 3-PC world are different than the person who does understand (and care about) this certificaiton.
Background: 38yo geek who got his first programming job 22 years ago and has been full time IT for over 15 years. Self-employeed rent-a-geek... er I mean "IT Consultant" (who does quite well thank you)
... But give me some money and all your IT problems will be solved."
So what do I do? I've got more experience and talents than 95% of the punk kids eager to take my customers.. So I go into see Joe business owner and I tell them "Yeah, forget paying MS or other companies for software, I can get you all the software you want free. BTW, You've never heard of me, you don't know penguin from a daemon and I don't have a piece of paper to my name that says I know anything.
(Like it or not) The vast majority of the people hiring IT consultants have never heard of a BSD. They've only heard of Linux because of the dotcom era. I have for many years mocked people who got MCSE's etc. But a business reality is that some people want that piece of paper...
But if I get any BSD certifications -and I probably will- it will be a dual edged sword. The goobers out there want a piece of paper so they sleep well at night knowing they hired an "expert." BUT I won't mention it to people who know what they are talking about because frankly, I mostly agree with you that if I see someone with too many certifications I run like hell figuring they're an idiot.
However there is one thing that definitely makes me fall to one side of the fence...
[Not baiting people but] (Even the most diehard fans of other platforms can probably bring themselves to admit that) the BSD's are the best pure server platform going. But how do I explain that to a lawyer or a CPA or an investment banker?
Like it or not, things like this boost the whole platform. It gives it an air of legitimacy to the unknowing.
So- I'll hold my nose and sign on the dotted line.
I took several of the basic SUN SysAdmin and NetAdmin exams a couple of years ago. They may have helped my foot find a door or three, but they definately helped me focus my learning and become a better sysadmin.
At the time, I was self-unemployed (a victim of my own hubris during the bubble when you could get hired for knowing how to spell UNIX) and needed a way to maintain my skills while broadening my base of OS know-how. I used the exams as a way to gauge my weak spots and fill them in with both book knowledge and test environment experience (ie, goofing around on my Ultra 5). When I finally got back on the horse 2 years ago, my learning substrate, if not my OTJ experience, had been greatly expanded. Over the course of the next year, I learned more about good sysadmin practice than I had during the all the bubble years.
Recently, I took the free Solaris 10 exams and passed them. Again, it focused my efforts to learn about many of the new features like zones and SMF.
The value of a certification is determined more by what the certifiee intends to accomplish by earning it than what an employer thinks it reveals about the certifiee.