RHCE or LPI?
 

Hi,

I am planning to do certification in linux. RHCE and LPI are the two choices i am considering.

Please tell me when these certifications expire and their industry value.

LPI requests that you re-certify every 10 years. Your credential isn't expired, but it showns an non-active after the 10 years.

I'd recommend LPI as it tests on Linux in general.

In terms of course contents, RHCE is equivalent to LPI 1 or LPI 2 ?

If i am not wrong, is the cost of LPI 1 200$ (100$/exam) and same for LPI 2 ?

I've not taken the RHCE, but I imagine content wise they are similar.
But you also have to look at "what is the company he interviews for hates redhat?". At my job, I could care less if you can build/ install RPMs, kickstart a load, or use any other redhat tool. Since I moved here, I've gotten rid of the mandrake/redhat boxes and used slackware for most things, but since I began gentoo, I've since used it instead.
Having an RHCE really wouldn't help. Yeah, you now about linux but you'd go looking for all the configs in /etc/sysconfig and then come back to me saying "I can' find this file :cry: ". Then I'd educate said person that redhat moves or links all config there so that drones can operate the machine sort of like windows.

This is all personal opinion, you can get any and all certs you like. My vote goes for LPI

: edit :
Yes, I used to be a redhat fan long ago (7.3). I understand they have a good product, but I disagree with their attitude

Well, nominally, LPI level 2 covers a "similar" level of material as RHCE; however, the analogy is closer to:

Taking a multiple choice test on War and Peace - is to LPI (a difficult multiple choice exam)

as

Scoring a 70 on the Pebble Beach golf course with no more than a 38 on front or back 9 - is to RHCE (And you have to par the first 5 holes) (a challenging test of your skills in real life)

That means, first LPI level 1 then LPI level 2 which is equivalent to RHCE.

Why not take RHCE directly?

Also, please tell me about expiry of RHCE?

And throw some more light on which certification has more market value (in terms of ease of getting a good job) ?

** I'm not saying that you are one of these people, but don't think certs mean you can get a job.**

This is one that I have to deal with. Just because someone has certifications doesn't mean that they know anything. These people are known as "Paper MCSEs", fill in whatever cert you like. Someone who can memorize the answer, either from a book or cheetsheet, and pass the test but once they get hired I have to fix their errors. As I stated, it will depend of if the company you are looking into uses Redhat or a separate distribution. LPI covers a broader base since it deals with debian package management, Redhat package management, compiling from source, and the .tgz which is slackware's I think.
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** I'm not saying that you are one of these people, but don't think certs mean you can get a job.**


I understand that getting a certificate does not necessarily get you a job.
What i meant was that is it something like that a particular edition of linix(redhat or others) is more popular in the industry. That may help me decide.


I too have read the above information on expiry of RHCE from redhat.com. What i did not understand is will the certificate have no value after the next major release of redhat.

Microsoft retired the NT line of certs, but many companies still use NT4. All the MCSE's I know still put the NT certs in their resume, it would look something like this

Windows NT4 MCSE
Windows 2000 MCSA (let just say he hasn't gotten that far)
70-290 Windows 2k3 server

That would let the employer know that he can break any NT4 system, most 2000 systems, and the new 2003 server if they let him touch the machine.
Any cert is better than no cert, so try to look at what the exams cover and pick the one which covers the broadest area. Possibly your employer will send you back for most certs once you get the job.

My strategy

I'd recommend a combination of LPIC 1 a vendor independant certification + NCLP (Novell Cert Linux Prof) a vendor dependant but similar certification to start with. You may then proceed to LPIC 2 or NCLE 9 as you progress in knowledge and experience. And finally to the real hardcore LPIC 3 to test your guts.

Certifications are used to get your resume selected by the HRD in the firm you are applying. You still have to convince them in the technical interview that you are the right guy for the job to get the job. So don't fret over which certification to get. RHCE and LPI are both good.
And I have seen atleast quite a few RHCE's and LPI's in Job ads in newspapers.

How much experience are we talking about here? I have been jumping around from college to college and I have a lot of help desk experience. Right now I have about 5 years of help desk experience, a few summers doing port mapping and a little rewiring of patch panels at various companies, and a lot of on site computer work and troubleshooting. I'm hoping to get my Network+, CCNA, and some kind of Linux certificate whether it be LPI/RHCT or RHCE. Is this enough to my foot in the door of a good company?

Probably as a help desk technician. Certs are often thought of as a requirement for a Server or Infrastructure team. Web Design / Application teams that we have don't need anything more than a two year degree and a portfolio of sites they've designed.

Yeah, thats the type of job that I'm going after is some type of network admin position, but I'm still in college trying to go after my IT degree. What I'm wonder is, is what kind of qualifications, certifications, and job experiences do companies look for when they hire someone freash out of college?

I'd say your good to go fresh out of college with your degree and a certification or two for applying for help desk stuff. Now markets are going to vary, so I don't know what its really like in your area.