NEW YORK 01/22/2003 The Linux Professional Institute (LPI)
(www.lpi.org), the premier professional certification program for the
Linux community, and UnitedLinux LLC (www.unitedlinux.com), an industry
initiative to streamline Linux development and certification around a
global, uniform distribution, have signed a cooperative agreement to
market a UnitedLinux professional certification program.
Under the memorandum of understanding, LPI and UnitedLinux will work
jointly to create new UnitedLinux specific exams, which, when passed
together with the current LPI Levels 1 and 2 exams, will lead to two new
UnitedLinux certifications. The new exams are expected to be available
during the first quarter of 2003:
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LPI's current Level 1 program (101 and 102), with the addition of a 103
UnitedLinux-specific exam, will result in a UnitedLinux Certified
Professional (ULCP) certification.
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The existing LPI Level 2 program (201 and 202), with the addition of a
203 UnitedLinux-specific exam, will result in a UnitedLinux Certified Expert
(ULCE) 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's president Evan Leibovitch. "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. "Our agreement with LPI compliments the training
programs our founding members will offer to the marketplace."
LPI's mandate is to design and deliver a certification program from within
the Linux community, using both volunteer and professional resources.
Linux certification topped the list of certifications expected to rise in
importance most quickly, according to the 2002 CRN Certification study.
LPI has also been selected as the winner, for the second consecutive year,
of the Linux Journal's annual Editors' Choice Awards in the Training and
Certification category. LPI has delivered over 20,000 Level 1 and Level 2
certification exams globally in just two years since the program's
inception.
Founding companies of UnitedLinux are Linux industry leaders Conectiva
S.A., The SCO Group (NASDAQ:SCOX), SUSE Linux AG, and Turbolinux, Inc.
UnitedLinux Version 1.0, released in November, is the engine that powers
products sold by the four companies, each with its own value-add features,
services and pricing.
About Linux Professional Institute
The Linux Professional Institute (LPI) develops professional certification
for the Linux operating system independent of software vendors or training
providers. Established as an international non-profit organization in
1999 by the Linux community, LPI develops accessible, internationally
recognized certification programs, which have earned the respect of
vendors, employers and administrators. LPI's activities involve hundreds
of volunteers and professionals throughout the world in many different
capacities, and the group encourages active public involvement through
mailing lists and its website at www.lpi.org. LPI's multi-level program
of exams is administered globally through Virtual University Enterprises
(VUE) and Prometric testing centers. LPI's major financial sponsors are
Platinum Sponsors IBM (NYSE:IBM), Linuxcare, Maxspeed, The SCO Group
(NASDAQ:SCOX), SGI (NYSE:SGI), SUSE Linux AG and TurboLinux, as well as
Gold Sponsors Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) and Wave Technologies.
About UnitedLinux
UnitedLinux is a partnership of industry-leading Linux companies combining
their intellectual property, geographic mind share, sales, support and
marketing expertise to produce a uniform distribution of Linux designed
for business. UnitedLinux applies the collaborative development model of
open source to the business model to enable a one-stop shop for
developers, partners and customers to install, support and maintain
quality business solutions based on Linux anywhere in the world.
UnitedLinux is actively recruiting membership for both industry software
developers and those who provide Linux as an integral part of their
business solutions. For more information, visit
http://www.unitedlinux.com or call UnitedLinux at
+1-781-876-8989.
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Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other trademarks
and service marks are the property of their respective owners.
For additional information:
Margot Rodger
UnitedLinux
781-876-6299
mrodger@virtualmgmt.com
About Novell
Novell, Inc. is a leading provider of information solutions that deliver secure identity management (Novell® Nsure™), Web application development (Novell exteNd™) and cross-platform networking services (Novell Nterprise™), all supported by strategic consulting and professional services (Novell NgageSM). Active in the open source community with its Ximian and SUSE Linux brands, Novell is firmly committed to open source and offers comprehensive Linux products and services for the enterprise, from the desktop to the server. Novell's vision of one Net - a world without information boundaries - helps customers realize the value of their information securely and economically. For more information, call Novell's Customer Response Center at (888) 321-4CRC (4272) or visit http://www.novell.com. Press should visit http://www.novell.com/pressroom.
Novell is a registered trademarks; Nsure, exteNd and Nteprise are trademarks; and Ngage is a service mark of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. SUSE is a registered trademark of SUSE Linux AG. * All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Press Contact:
Jasmin Ul-Haque
Novell, Inc
Phone: +44 (0)1344 326-900
E-mail: juh@novell.com
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