10/18/2006 -- The Linux Professional Institute (LPI), a nonprofit provider of the vendor-neutral Linux LPIC program, previewed betas of its upcoming Level 3 certification (LPIC-3) exams last week in Utrecht, Netherlands.

Attended by about a dozen Linux professionals, last week's beta testing was the first in what LPI says will be a blitz of similar testing events to be held in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Japan, South Africa, the U.K. and the U.S. this year.

In all, LPI expects that more than 300 Linux professionals will take the LPIC-3 betas at no cost before the exams go live in January 2007.

The LPIC-3 will build on the organization's current titles -- the junior-level LPIC-1 and intermediate-level LPIC-2 -- measuring more complex skills in "the area of authentication and file-sharing services," LPI said.

The first exam in the LPIC-3 track (301) will focus on LDAP technology and capacity planning, while the second (302) will focus on Samba. According to LPI, several other LPIC-3 exams are in development.

Updated information on LPIC-3's exam objectives can be found at LPI's site here.

To earn Level 3 certification, test takers must pass any two of the LPIC-3 exams as well as have an active LPIC-2 certification (although LPIC-2 and LPIC-3 can be taken in any order, the organization said).

To find out more about participating in these free betas, go here. -Gladys Rama