BSD Certification Group press release

[Astrodog]

On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 21:07:33 +0100, Anthony Atkielski
<atkielski.anthony at wanadoo.fr> wrote:
> Astrodog writes:
> 
> > Have you considered, that a certification program done in an open
> > manner could be incredibly helpful for FreeBSD?
> 
> If so, it would be a historical first.  I've never seen any
> certification program do that for anything.
> 

I'm not sure I see that as a problem, considering the group that is
putting this together.

> > You're making some rather large assumptions, the primary one being
> > that the creation and design of the certification tests will be closed
> > and no one except the arbiters will be involved.
> 
> I think it's safe to assume that the group creating and designing the
> tests will be far smaller than the group expected to take and pass the
> tests.  And offhand I can't think of who would actually be objectively
> qualified to design the tests in the first place.
> 

The group creating FreeBSD and deciding where it will go is
significantly smaller than the userbase. As far as someone being
objectively qualified.... the guy who reads your college entry essay
isn't objective, your boss isn't objective, cops aren't objective, and
neither are judges. You go with what you can get, while striving for
objectivity, even if it isn't possible.

> > The reason certifications are required in some cases is that lets face
> > it, you COULD be full of shit and know nothing about whatever product
> > it is.
> 
> Not if an employer or client investigates your claims.  And if he
> doesn't, certification won't make any difference, anyway.
> 
> I'm not even sure what you'd certify for FreeBSD ... it's practically
> identical to the other BSDs, which in turn are practically identical to
> all other forms of UNIX.  Why would anyone seek out a FreeBSD or BSD
> certification _specifically_?
>
> > Not only does this hurt whoever hires you, but it hurts whoever
> > provides the product you're lying about.
> 
> If people lie about experience and their clients don't check up, what
> would prevent them from lying about certification (which their clients
> wouldn't check up, either)?

If I'm an employer, and I need to terminate a crap employee, and they
don't list any certs, just experence, it would be quite difficult to
PROVE that they didn't have experence with "Application X". However,
if they claim a certification for application X, that they don't
actually have, I can fire them without notice.

> 
> > As far as the last comment.... People complain about certifications?
> 
> Some do.  Certifications, like unions, are attempts to artificially
> inflate and/or support a job market through closed-shop restrictions.
>

One could argue that a college degree has the same effect. So would
actually knowing other people. I don't see this as an issue at all. :\

> --
> Anthony
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> freebsd-advocacy at freebsd.org mailing list
> http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-advocacy
> To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-advocacy-unsubscribe at freebsd.org"
>