LPI exams - Ubuntu Certification

[Daniel Carrera]

Hello,

I've been going through sample LPI exams, and I don't like some of the
questions. In brief, I think they're broken, and I wonder how useful LPI
really is for measuring Linux proficiency.

For example: One sample question asked "You are installing an ISA card;
what do you need to do?". Two options were (a) Nothing, Linux will
configure it automatically and (b) Use isapnp and pnpdump.

First, there's the matter of relevance. ISA disappeared years ago. Any
PII or newer won't have ISA slots. Second, the question is flawed
because the answer depends on the kernel you're using. With the old 2.2
kernel you had to use pnpdump to get information which could then be fed
into isapnp. Starting with the 2.4 kernel, this functionality was added
into the kernel and they no longer exist. Debian Woody uses the 2.2
kernel. If we're going to ask a question about hardware that was
obsolete 6 years ago, it's not beyond reason to consider a distribution
version that was current 18 months ago.

The exam also asks questions about vi. I understand the logic in asking
about the one text editor that any system, including a rescue system, is
guaranteed  have. But they seem to ask the wrong questions about it...
For example, it asks how to move the cursor up 4 spaces. I may not
remember which of hjkl moves the cursor where, but in real life I can
find out by pressing them. Plus, currently vim understands the arrow
keys. And what if I write "4k" and the computer expects "kkkk"? Also,
when it asks how to "save and exit", what if I am used to using :wq and
the exam expects me two say :x ?  Does it really matter if I know
that :x can save and exit as long as I am able to save and exit it?

In some questions the exam seems to be measuring the wrong things.

Cheers,
Daniel.
-- 
http://opendocumentfellowship.org
  "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the
  unreasonable man tries to adapt the world to himself.
  Therefore all progress depends on unreasonable men."
        -- George Bernard Shaw
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