Using notes or man pages during the LFCS exam?

justinnoor

This is really just a sanity check. Can anyone verify this? Apparently we cannot use notes during the LFCS exam per the candidate handbook v1.10. Seems pretty strict! What about using man pages or --help commands at the terminal? Thank you.

coop

My understanding is you can use anything on your machine, including man pages and --help commands etc. It is external resources (including notes) that are not allowed. I do not know of any certification exam that lets you do this, often you actually have a proctor physically in the room. Some also prevent all Internet access -- but since you are taking an exam over the Internet you obviously cannot do that. You can, however, do things like use yum or apt to install packages you like to use that don't seem to be on the virtual machine you are using for the test etc.

From my years as a university professor, I know that letting an exam be completely open book while reassuring the students
on one level, almost always causes them to do worse than if they did not bring in additional resources. Unless an exam is designed to be open book, there really is no need for it, and if an exam is designed to be open book that means the coverage of content expands exponentially which makes the exam exceptionally difficult. Having access to man pages etc is more than sufficient and reflects reality best

justinnoor

@coop thanks a bunch. It's always nice to get a little clarification, regardless if the information is in the handbook. You clarified a very important point. According to the candidate handbook v1.10 p.20 https://training.linuxfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Candidate_Handbook_v1.10_Oct18.pdf, we are allowed to use the man pages within the Linux terminal provided by the exam server. That's a great relief

Thank you for offering your expertise on open-note exams. Fumbling through notes during exams often becomes a hindrance rather than a help. Using the man pages in the provided terminal should suffice.

pmav99

You can, however, do things like use yum or apt to install packages you like to use that don't seem to be on the virtual machine you are using for the test etc.

@coop So it is possible to e.g. clone your dotfiles from github etc? Or is that forbidden too?

coop

I don't know all the rules, but I would expect that is forbidden (just as you are not allowed to go out and google etc). Exactly what you have access to is pretty narrow. But to get an authoritative answer, please contact the certification staff -- I'm sure they gave you an address to use,.. You can also probably just use training@linuxfoundation.org . As I said, I have never taken the exam (deliberately) so I only know what I have garnered from pubiic information.

Flavia

Please send an email to certificationsupport@linuxfoundation.org to inquire.