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Hey Michael et. al.,
I too have taken M$ certifications, and IMNSHO, they are niether as simplistic
as Nick's description, nor are they even vaguely comprehensive as you seem to
stipulate.
I don't want to drag this thread into a long debate on the validity of m$
certs., but I will reiterate. Certifications *should* be to determine the best
of the best, not what they are now.
A 6 hour test is minimal to gauge someone's ability. To elucidate in my earlier
point concerning Cisco's CCIE cert., the test takes place ove a two week period,
in which you are presented with a network into which the instructors place
glitches. Your task is to discover those problems and cure them. There are
indeed paper tests included, but the crux is the real life problems you are
given to deal with.
Yes, the test does cost 2500 or so bucks, but those who pass are the creme de la
creme, and as such deserve notice. The goal is to make people fail, and those
who cannot be made to fail are w/o a doubt competent.
M$ does not make substantial cash from their certifications, but there is an
ulterior motive for making the tests as easy to pass as possible, without
appearing to be giving them away. How many times have we heard "well, I went
with M$ 'cause there's lots of certified M$ professionals out there to support
their products."? M$ is a complex, ingenious company, spending millions if not
billions of dollars to PR firms who do nothing but think about how best to get
m$ more entrenched in the computing world. It's nothing more than a "game of
houses" with layers and layers of complexity vying for the success of the
company paying them. M$ is brutal, but they play the game well, to date better
than any other. Overt attacks, "Embrace, Extend Extinguish", Covert attacks,
Mindcraft, and the subversive, as in the situation I have detailed above, give
lots of people certifications, and non-technical managers will be more
comfortable using that product..
These people aren't stupid, they know how people's mind's work, and do anything
in their power to influence that thought process. It is an arguable point that
a monopoly occurs when a given organization becomes so powerful that they no
longer have to improve their product to win. They have the resources to
influence and control a population almiost regardless of their products
viability.
Make no mistake, if it weren't for the current DOJ case bringing all of this out
into the open, Linux, regardless of it's technical superiority, would not be an
issue. M$ had the ability to squeeze it's vendors and clients right out of
business should they choose to. We are dealing with a company that is roughly
the economic equivalent of a fairly sizable modern nation. I won't go so far as
to give specifics, but I seem to remember reading that M$ is similar in power to
a European country, like Belgium, or France. The CEO alone is personally worth
52 BILLION dollars. If that doesn't give an indication of the huge amount of
power m$ wields, then nothing will. We're talking intelligence divisions,
domestic and foreign, ties to the Federal Government (The NSA backdoor is one
bit of evidence. Don't you think that M$ gained something for that little hole,
you bet your ass they did), the best PR firms who do nothing but study how
people react, and how to manipulate those reactions.
Wow...
Sorry 'bout the length, still not done, but I'm cutting it short.
Peace (usually),
Vale
"Michael W. Ryan" wrote:
> Sorry that this is long, but I'm finding myself rather insulted as a
> professional.
>
>
> http://lists.nothinbut.net/mail/listinfo/plug
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