Linux+ pricing?

Maybe i'm not looking hard enough but I can't seem to find a definitive answer on the pricing for these exams. According to CompTIA website it's $173 per exam(really?!). Do they offer a composite exam like Cisco does with their CCNA? Is there any way to get it cheaper if that really is the case?

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hiddenknight821

If you are worrying about the price, then you need to decide whether the investment is really worth it or not in the long term. The Composite exam is only $5 short from taking both ICND exams separately.

Remember, Linux+ will get you at least three certifications. One from CompTIA, one from LPI, and one from Novell. I forgot one more, but yeah you could say the Novell certs are worthless. If you are doing nothing with Linux in your day-to-day job, then probably you shouldn't invest in this. Honestly, no IT professionals here should worry about the price tags on the certifications if they are being paid well. I can understand your concern if you are talking about a $3K training or bootcamp.

veritas_libertas

Log into PearsonVue and act like you are going to take the exam. That is the quickest way to learn the price.

hiddenknight821

I did that before I made my post, and the OP got the price right.

YFZblu

$178/per exam isn't out of the norm for CompTIA. Keep an eye on getcertified4less.com and you may find some significant discounts offered every now and then.

As far as foregoing Linux+ because you don't work with it daily, I disagree.

hiddenknight821

If you said you disagree with foregoing Linux+ because of the price tag, then I would agree with you on that. However, foregoing the exam, because it's not part of your daily responsibility is reasonable. For example, I took the CCNA last December, then a few months later, I started to forget a couple of important topic I learned. So, does the CCNA I currently hold has value? Probably not if I don't refresh my knowledge. Why waste money on a cert if it isn't gonna help you with your current job? I'm grandfathered in all three CompTIA trios, and I can't reiterate probably 1/2 of the stuff from my Security+ exam that I took almost exactly three years ago. It's cheaper just to hit the book and not take the exam until the credential is needed.

I think I'm being a hypocrite here, but for the CompTIA certs, I would save my money. If this was a Red Hat cert, then that would be a different story since practical hand-on exam helps reinforce learning and retain memory better in my opinion. This goes for the Cisco certs as well.

YFZblu

hiddenknight821 wrote: »

Why waste money on a cert if it isn't gonna help you with your current job? .

Are you suggesting that it is not worthwhile to invest time and money in a certification that one has no paid experience with? I believe there is an entire technical exam forum dedicated to those who do exactly that - Perhaps you should check it out.

Sure, if one has no plans to ever work with Linux then it wouldn't be worth the time / financial investment - But where did the OP indicate that?

hiddenknight821

YFZblu wrote: »

Sure, if one has no plans to ever work with Linux then it wouldn't be worth the time / financial investment - But where did the OP indicate that?

You misunderstood my posts. In my original post, I said "if" for a reason, so I can make some assumptions here. If you know some programming, then I think you can follow the logic here. If (this condition is true), then (anything goes). So if the OP doesn't have a job, then whatever I said doesn't matter. However, if the OP has a job that has nothing to do with Linux, then my suggestion can be considered.

YFZblu

If you believe the OP does not want to be perceived as competent at the entry level with Linux, then yes, your position can be considered. I'd prefer to believe the OP is not an insane person with no plans to work with Linux at any level, and has no plans to apply for any position that requires proof of basic Linux knowledge via some type of tangible credential.

hiddenknight821

I hope he's not one of the paper certs but I don't think he is. Beside, the price should be the least of his concern. I always see certifications as in investment regardless of pass or fail, because of the knowledge you gain from it.

ptilsen

YFZblu wrote: »

I'd prefer to believe the OP is not an insane person with no plans to work with Linux at any level, and has no plans to apply for any position that requires proof of basic Linux knowledge via some type of tangible credential.

I, and many others, have no plans to apply for any position that requires proof of basic Linux knowledge via some tangible credential. I can assure you that in my five or six separate, prolonged job hunts in the last eight years, I have not seen one position relative to my interests that required a credential along the lines of Linux+. Anything asking for basic Linux did just that -- asked for basic Linux, but not certifications. Anything asking for more than basic Linux did not list Linux+. The few positions mentioning Linux+ were either all-Linux are mostly-Linux, and very entry-level. Given that knowledge and that I am not working with Linux now, is it unreasonable for me to not desire Linux+ or see the value in it for myself?

I would say in general it is rare to encounter a position that requires any CompTIA certification other than A+ or Sec+. I'm not saying Linux+ and the others don't add value; just that they aren't needed and I can agree with an argument that there is no real need to pursue them, for many or most.

So unless OP is looking for a job heavily involving entry-level Linux work, it is not, in my opinion, unreasonable to not want to seek Linux+ unless OP is already working with Linux professionally or specifically desiring to.

Getting back on-topic (since OP obviously has some reason to want Linux+), I will say that overall the price is really nothing to balk at. Even entry-level IT professionals can reasonably afford certs in this range. People not yet in IT but who could gain a job after completing a cert should be able to easily justify the small investment. By comparison, it costs less than one college credit at a cheap university or mid-to-high-price community college.

As hiddenknight points out, however, there has to be some thought about whether even that small amount justifies the cost. If you want to get into entry-level Linux jobs and this will help you get there, and the cost is nothing. It's completely worth it. If the thought process is just to show some basic Linux knowledge to help with generalist positions, there might be good argument that there will not be good RoI on getting Linux+. That being said, the cert is so damn cheap and the bit of knowledge you'll gain can be useful even if you don't intend to work with Linux professionally, so I really can't see the price as a big concern.