Re: cert discussion

[paw@northstar.dartmouth.edu]

Dave England writes:
	
	I wonder how much of this whole certificate issue is driven by a feeling
	of a lack of respect for SAs or by SAs who desire more pay and believe a
	certificate is the way to get it.  Wouldn't we serve ourselves and our
	customers/employeers/SAGE members better by initially ensuring that the
	learning and training methods are in place before we get caught up in a
	paper chase?

Actually, I think much of the current action is driven by the fact that the
world is passing us by - Sun, IBM, and a host of others are starting to
provide "certification" programs on their own.  While one might expect someone 
who is "Sun certified" to know something about the way Sun thinks systems
administration should happen (as implemented by Sun), I don't think you'll
find too many folks who will think that any one vendor's way is the best way to
adminster heterogenous systems, or that passing any one vendor's exams says 
anything about overall competency as a systems administrator.

I'm certainly not in favor of putting the cart (cert) before the horse
(education), but I _do_ believe that, were a "basic sysadmin" certification
to be made and meaningful, SAGE is the only organization with the depth and
breadth of knowledge to do the job.

Pat Wilson
paw@dartmouth.edu