A problem with PSI Browser - critical ideological error
Today it was the third time I tried to (unsuccessfully) take JSNAD exam. The exam itself doesn’t matter, it could have been LFCS, LFCE, CKA… whatever. I won’t go into technical details - to shortly resume - due to different technical issues I just couldn’t take the exam since December. I do not want to express my frustration of not being able to take the exam three times in a row either. I understand that technical issues can occur, anytime, anywhere. I’ve already opened yet another ticket with LF Customer Support team which has been very understanding and helpful so far.
I’ve still decided to post this on all the forums I participate in since I think this issue is more than just a simple technical issue and it concerns all of us. I apologize in advance if this is inappropriate and off-topic, but it is on my heart and I want to share it with all of you.
I love Linux. Since I started taking courses on Linux Foundation I got kind of addicted to learning everything I can about it and it brought me a lot of joy and (hopefully) some knowledge. I’ve already passed LFCS and LFCE exams last year. I have been granted a Linux Foundation scholarship and this year I was planning to take CKA and CKS exams. In the meantime I’ve also bought JSNAD exam and some other courses.
But my love for Linux is much older than my technical interest in it. I’ve started using it some 16 years ago out of revolt towards Microsoft’s monopoly. I was a teenager becoming aware of reality, social injustice, centers of power and rotten monetary system and all the other problems we, as society, are facing. Not to go too off-topic, I just want to say that for me Linux (and open source philosophy in general) is the living proof that people are not profit hungry animals and that another world is possible – the one where we do not compete but collaborate - and all that now, at the present moment, not in the future. It is a supreme ideology.
That brings me back to the reason why I am posting this today. I find it unacceptable that Linux foundation forces its candidates to install proprietary software (PSI Secure browser, which BTW doesn’t even work) on their systems, or even worse, to take their exams on Windows or MAC machines. Linux Foundation, the symbol of open source! We’re being trained to work on open source systems and solutions, in the open source community BUT we cannot take our exams without proprietary software! Am I the only one who finds this absurd, disturbing… even disgusting? Is it possible that there is no other way? This is a disgrace for Linux Foundation and everything it represents. Am I the only one who is bothered by all this?
Today it was the first time after 16 years that I’ve installed a piece of proprietary software (PSI Browser). Seeing their spooky disclaimer -
PSI browser will only collect data and monitor you during the exam and won’t share this data with anyone EXCEPT…
made me nauseous. Has Linux Foundation verified the source code of this software? What are we installing on our systems? And it doesn't even work. The solution technical support (of PSI) has is to use Windows or Mac. Maybe that was the drop that spilled the glass today and made me write all this.
Just to be clear, I’m not saying PSI Browser is dangerous or that people shouldn’t use Windows or Mac to take their exams. I’m saying that Linux Foundation should care more about its ideology and provide means for us to stay aligned with that ideology to the end.
I wrote to Customer support team today, saying that I have no intention of installing proprietary software on my system anymore and asking to be refunded for all the exams I have yet to take. Refunded or not, with heavy heart I decided not to take any more exams on Linux Foundation until there is a way to do so that goes in line with my principles and principles of free software.
Categories
- All Categories
- 207 LFX Mentorship
- 207 LFX Mentorship: Linux Kernel
- 735 Linux Foundation IT Professional Programs
- 339 Cloud Engineer IT Professional Program
- 167 Advanced Cloud Engineer IT Professional Program
- 66 DevOps Engineer IT Professional Program
- 132 Cloud Native Developer IT Professional Program
- 122 Express Training Courses
- 122 Express Courses - Discussion Forum
- 5.9K Training Courses
- 40 LFC110 Class Forum - Discontinued
- 66 LFC131 Class Forum
- 39 LFD102 Class Forum
- 222 LFD103 Class Forum
- 17 LFD110 Class Forum
- 34 LFD121 Class Forum
- 17 LFD133 Class Forum
- 6 LFD134 Class Forum
- 17 LFD137 Class Forum
- 70 LFD201 Class Forum
- 3 LFD210 Class Forum
- 2 LFD210-CN Class Forum
- 2 LFD213 Class Forum - Discontinued
- 128 LFD232 Class Forum - Discontinued
- 1 LFD233 Class Forum
- 3 LFD237 Class Forum
- 23 LFD254 Class Forum
- 689 LFD259 Class Forum
- 110 LFD272 Class Forum
- 3 LFD272-JP クラス フォーラム
- 10 LFD273 Class Forum
- 110 LFS101 Class Forum
- LFS111 Class Forum
- 2 LFS112 Class Forum
- 1 LFS116 Class Forum
- 3 LFS118 Class Forum
- 3 LFS142 Class Forum
- 3 LFS144 Class Forum
- 3 LFS145 Class Forum
- 1 LFS146 Class Forum
- 2 LFS147 Class Forum
- 8 LFS151 Class Forum
- 1 LFS157 Class Forum
- 17 LFS158 Class Forum
- 5 LFS162 Class Forum
- 1 LFS166 Class Forum
- 3 LFS167 Class Forum
- 1 LFS170 Class Forum
- 1 LFS171 Class Forum
- 2 LFS178 Class Forum
- 2 LFS180 Class Forum
- 1 LFS182 Class Forum
- 4 LFS183 Class Forum
- 30 LFS200 Class Forum
- 737 LFS201 Class Forum - Discontinued
- 2 LFS201-JP クラス フォーラム
- 17 LFS203 Class Forum
- 118 LFS207 Class Forum
- 1 LFS207-DE-Klassenforum
- LFS207-JP クラス フォーラム
- 301 LFS211 Class Forum
- 55 LFS216 Class Forum
- 50 LFS241 Class Forum
- 44 LFS242 Class Forum
- 37 LFS243 Class Forum
- 13 LFS244 Class Forum
- 1 LFS245 Class Forum
- 45 LFS250 Class Forum
- 1 LFS250-JP クラス フォーラム
- LFS251 Class Forum
- 146 LFS253 Class Forum
- LFS254 Class Forum
- LFS255 Class Forum
- 6 LFS256 Class Forum
- LFS257 Class Forum
- 1.2K LFS258 Class Forum
- 9 LFS258-JP クラス フォーラム
- 116 LFS260 Class Forum
- 156 LFS261 Class Forum
- 41 LFS262 Class Forum
- 82 LFS263 Class Forum - Discontinued
- 15 LFS264 Class Forum - Discontinued
- 11 LFS266 Class Forum - Discontinued
- 23 LFS267 Class Forum
- 18 LFS268 Class Forum
- 29 LFS269 Class Forum
- 200 LFS272 Class Forum
- 1 LFS272-JP クラス フォーラム
- LFS274 Class Forum
- 3 LFS281 Class Forum
- 7 LFW111 Class Forum
- 257 LFW211 Class Forum
- 179 LFW212 Class Forum
- 12 SKF100 Class Forum
- SKF200 Class Forum
- SKF201 Class Forum
- 791 Hardware
- 199 Drivers
- 68 I/O Devices
- 37 Monitors
- 98 Multimedia
- 174 Networking
- 91 Printers & Scanners
- 85 Storage
- 754 Linux Distributions
- 82 Debian
- 67 Fedora
- 16 Linux Mint
- 13 Mageia
- 23 openSUSE
- 147 Red Hat Enterprise
- 31 Slackware
- 13 SUSE Enterprise
- 351 Ubuntu
- 465 Linux System Administration
- 39 Cloud Computing
- 71 Command Line/Scripting
- Github systems admin projects
- 91 Linux Security
- 78 Network Management
- 101 System Management
- 47 Web Management
- 56 Mobile Computing
- 17 Android
- 28 Development
- 1.2K New to Linux
- 1K Getting Started with Linux
- 366 Off Topic
- 114 Introductions
- 171 Small Talk
- 20 Study Material
- 534 Programming and Development
- 293 Kernel Development
- 223 Software Development
- 1.2K Software
- 212 Applications
- 182 Command Line
- 3 Compiling/Installing
- 405 Games
- 312 Installation
- 79 All In Program
- 79 All In Forum
Upcoming Training
-
August 20, 2018
Kubernetes Administration (LFS458)
-
August 20, 2018
Linux System Administration (LFS301)
-
August 27, 2018
Open Source Virtualization (LFS462)
-
August 27, 2018
Linux Kernel Debugging and Security (LFD440)