New agreement will lead to preferential rates for Linux certification courses, organisation says

A recent deal struck between the Linux Professional Institute and a local organisation means that schools wanting to offer courses leading to its specialised certification could get preferential rates and offerings.

The recently signed Memorandum of Understanding with the Open Source Society Malta (OSSMalta), means that schools wanting to offer courses leading to the Linux Professional Institute (LPI) certificates who go through OSSMalta would be able to get preferential rates (up to 60% off) for licensing packages and also preferential rates for certificates for the candidates taking the courses, OSSMalta founder Warren Camilleri told BusinessNow.mt.

The end certificate would be issued by LPI. 

The Linux Professional Institute offers certificates used by those wanting to work in Linux and open source essentials, among others. Such courses would be targeted towards IT professionals, from entry levels to tech professionals, among other courses related to open source which are non-technical, he explained.

In addition, the MoU means that schools wanting to offer such courses going through OSSMalta would not require a minimum number of students to maintain the course, he added.

Courses would range from the first-tier – LPIC-1 which is the first certification in the multi-level Linux professional certification program of LPI which validates the candidate’s ability to perform maintenance tasks on the command line, install and configure a computer running Linux and configure basic networking – to higher-tier courses.

Through this deal, OSSMalta will act as a sort of distributor and agent for the LPI courses, Mr Camilleri said.

Everyone who receives a certificate through such courses would automatically become a member of OSSMalta, he adds, explaining that their members would get exclusive discounts if they want to continue training for higher certification levels.

The local organisation also plans to build a national alumni network, he said, with the aim of helping its members get jobs and employers find the workers with the training they require.

"This is a huge win for the market in Malta," Mr Camilleri said, adding that what is being offered will provide a "very competitive edge when compared to mainland Europe."

"These are not courses offered by MCAST or the University of Malta. They are industrial. These are the certifications that entities like Google, Facebook and major companies look for. It’s not university accreditation, its industrial accreditation."

He described OSSMalta as a grassroots association which is turning into a foundation, and has represented Malta in the open source field internationally for the last 20 years.