The Linux Professional Institute, a developer of Linux certifications, this week announced that it is hooking up with UnitedLinux LLC, an industry initiative to streamline Linux development and certification around a global, uniform distribution of the open source operating system.
The two organizations have signed a cooperative agreement to market a UnitedLinux professional certification program. LPI and UnitedLinux will work jointly to create new UnitedLinux-specific exams. When IT professionals pass these new exams as well as the current LPI Levels 1 and 2 exams, they will be eligible for two new UnitedLinux certifications:
1. LPIs Level 1 program (101 and 102), with the addition of a 103 UnitedLinux-specific exam, will result in the ULCP (UnitedLinux Certified Professional) certification.
2. LPIs Level 2 program (201 and 202), with the addition of a 203 UnitedLinux-specific exam, will result in a ULCE (UnitedLinux Certified Expert) certification.
“This agreement solidifies our vendor-neutral position within the Linux community and demonstrates the value of our program as a foundation for organizations like UnitedLinux to use to build their own certification programs,” said LPI President Evan Leibovitch, in a statement. “Our agreement also shows the open source community working together to achieve collective success. We look forward to helping create future industry recognition and provide an organizational path for IT professionals.”
“Partnering with LPI will offer UnitedLinux adopters access to high-quality professional resources so that they can deploy products powered by UnitedLinux with confidence,” said Paula Hunter, general manager of UnitedLinux, in a statement.
LPIs mandate is to design and deliver a certification program from within the Linux community, using both volunteer and professional resources. LPI has delivered over 20,000 Level 1 and Level 2 certification exams globally in the two years since the programs inception.
Founding companies of UnitedLinux are Conectiva S.A., The SCO Group, SuSE Linux AG and Turbolinux Inc. UnitedLinux Version 1.0, released in November, is the engine that powers products sold by the four companies.