Linux Professional Institute


The Linux Professional Institute is a non-profit organization founded in Canada on October 25, 1999 and oriented towards certifications for Linux, BSD and open source software based technologies.

Linux Professional Institute Certification Programs

The company offers its exams in numerous countries and languages. These exams are primarily multiple choice questions, with some written answers. These are either taken using a computer based system, or using a paper based exam.
The organization allows community participation in creating and updating exams. Persons unaffiliated with the company can use exam Objectives Development wiki, or the Exam Development Mailing List to participate in the creation of new exams and the update of the existing ones. The exams are intended to be distribution-neutral rather than emphasize a particular distribution of family thereof.
LPI has three different certification program tracks:
Essentials Track:
Linux Professional Track:
Open Technology Track:
Linux Professional Institute's Partner Programs are created to assist companies and organizations that are involved in, use or teach open source.

Organization

The Linux Professional Institute Inc. was incorporated as a Canadian non-profit organization on October 25, 1999. It is headquartered near Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is led by a board of directors. Members of the Board are: Jon "maddog" Hall, Christopher Fron, Evan Leibovitch, C. Scudder Mead, Torsten Scheck, Bryan J Smith and Bdale Garbee.

Exams

The exams are not normally administered by Linux Professional Institute Inc., but instead through one of the Pearson VUE test centres. A number of exams are also offered at major Linux and IT trade shows and conferences, where the exams are often available at a reduced price. Beta exams are offered as part of the community feedback process and are free of charge.

International Regional Partners

LPI seeks to increase adoption of Linux in part through what it terms its "Regional Enablement Initiative" focuses on identifying the partner organizations that can adopt or otherwise promote adoption.

Recertification Policy

LPI has changed its recertification policy three times from its founding. At first there was no recertification policy, but on September 1, 2004 LPI decided to introduce a ten-year recertification policy. Certification designations earned before September 1, 2004 were considered lifetime designations and were not affected by that policy. Again on December 1, 2006 LPI further reduced the recertification policy to a period of five years. Candidates who have earned LPIC certifications will have to re-certify every five years or alternatively earn a higher certification status even if their certification was earned prior to September 1, 2004. However, certification designations earned prior to September 1, 2003 were considered ACTIVE certifications until September 1, 2008.