Need a headcount, please, re: Linux+/LPIC study group

[jonnyX]

Howdy,

Quick question: Who would be interested in participating in the proposed Linux+/LPIC-1/CentOS7 certification study group this summer? Please either respond here or email me privately by Wednesday.

The Nashville Technology Council is still toying with the idea of hosting user groups in their shiny new facilities on weekends; currently they do not. If we have enough people interested in showing up twice a month for the study sessions, the NTC will do it. Based on the last round of email exchanges, I think they're looking for 15 people minimum before they unlock the doors. If we can't manage 15 people the first time out, I'm open to suggestions for alternate sites.

For those not familiar with the proposed Linux+/LPIC-1/CentOS7 certification study group:

It's an idea we started kicking around after the March meeting. John O'Malley has volunteered to run the sessions, since he obtained his certs a few months ago; the Linux+, LPIC-1, and CentOS7 are all the same cert. If you pass the Linux+ "version," you can fill out a couple of webforms & get certificates for the other two, allowing you to put all three certifications on your resume for the price of one. The Linux+ is the second most requested Linux cert on the big IT job boards; first and third are the RHCE (Red Hat Certified Engineer) and the RHCSA (Red Hat Certified Systems Administrator), respectively. If all goes well with the Linux+/LPIC study group this summer, we'll try a RHCSA study group in the fall and a RHCE study group in the spring of 2018.

Proposed Linux+/LPIC study group meetings are currently the first & third Saturday of each month, early in the afternoon (1:00pm - 2:00pm, possibly later; also possibly longer than an hour if ~90+ minutes works better). The dates are: 

Jun 03
Jun 17
Jul 01
Jul 15
Aug 05
Aug 19

July is actually kind of tricky, since July 04 is on a Tuesday; it's a federal holiday, so some people might take off Monday as well and make that a long holiday weekend. July 08 and 22 might be a better substitute, attendance-wise. Comments & suggestions are welcome (on all dates & times, not just those in July).

Nashville Technology Council info:

https://technologycouncil.com/

500 Interstate Blvd. S,
Suite 200
Nashville, TN 37210

Further info on the CompTIA Linux+:

prereq: none (A+, Network+, 12 mo exp recommended)

exams: LX0-103 and LX0-104 (60 multiple-choice questions each, 90 minutes, 500 required out of 200-800 scale to pass)

cost: $200 per exam

valid: "The CompTIA Linux+ certification is considered good for life and does not need to be renewed."

https://certification.comptia.org/certifications/linux

How to earn LPIC-1 with Linux+

* Please note that you cannot earn LPIC-1 and then apply for Linux+. The Linux+ must be earned first. (This offer is NOT available in Japan.)

1) Earn your Linux+

2) Obtain an LPI ID at https://cs.lpi.org/caf/Xamman/register

3) Once you have passed both Linux+ exams, log into your CompTIA certification account. Choose Demographics | Settings. On the Settings page check the box to have your information forwarded to LPI, then click Submit.

I'll crosspost this to the Meetup group shortly; apologies if you see it twice. Vincent, please feel free to forward this to VMUG. All, please feel free to crosspost this to other relevant meetups and mailing lists (err on the side of caution & ask the list or group owner first if you're not sure, please; we don't want to spam).

Thanks,

~~Dru

PS - Our next installfest may be in ~2.5 weeks (May 27th) at the East Nashville Brew Works. I'm meeting Sean Jewett there tomorrow (along with John and possibly Howard) to check it out. If all goes well, I'll confirm it at the NLUG meeting. Tentative focus will be on installing & configuring CentOS7 in advance of the first study group meeting, and handing out the first reading assignments & exercises. Hopefully we can use ENBW as a backup site if the NTC doesn't work out.

[Floyd Mullins]

I am interested in a study group for these certifications.

Floyd Mullins

Floyd Mullins

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[jonnyX]

Yea, first respondent! That was fast; you will receive a shiny prize of some sort at the first study session (or at the installfest, your choice).

~~D/jX

On Monday, May 8, 2017 at 8:43:54 PM UTC-5, eddie wrote:

[Floyd Mullins]

Sweet ..... When is installfest?

Floyd Mullins

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[Jim Peterson]

I may be interested in attending, but I need to see if my boss will foot the bill.

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[jonnyX]

On Monday, May 8, 2017 at 8:52:03 PM UTC-5, eddie wrote:

> Sweet ..... When is installfest?

May 27th, maybe (read the PS to the original message); will know for sure tomorrow afternoon, & will post update tomorrow night.

~~D/jX

[Vincent Brown]

I'm interested.

[Tilghman Lesher]

I'm also interested.

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[Tilghman Lesher]

Given the amount of cross-posted interest, it may be best to create
something along the lines of a Google Form, asking for interest and
contact information. I know a coworker of mine is also interested.

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Tilghman

[jonnyX]

On Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at 1:38:40 PM UTC-5, Tilghman Lesher wrote:

> Given the amount of cross-posted interest, it may be best to create
> something along the lines of a Google Form, asking for interest and
> contact information. I know a coworker of mine is also interested.

Yeah, I'm hearing the same thing from Meetup folks ("I have a friend who's interested, but they aren't on Meetup."). Give us a day or two to lock down the location (NTC is probably backing out, apparently they don't want to be open weekends now, fortunately we have some alternatives) & we'll probably do something like that.

~~Dru

[Tilghman Lesher]

Another possibility might be Nashville Software School (one floor up,
same building). In fact, some of their students may be interested in
the certification, as upon the conclusion of their education, they
will be seeking jobs. Every additional accreditation helps.

[Vincent Brown]

I'm interested.

On Monday, May 8, 2017 at 8:29:27 PM UTC-5, jonnyX wrote:

[Cindy]

I am interested, which I replied to the wrong email (one regarding locations). Need more coffee...

Cindy

[jonnyX]

On Thursday, May 11, 2017 at 9:27:49 AM UTC-5, Cindy wrote:

> I am interested, which I replied to the wrong email (one regarding locations).

Per your other email, no, it's not too late at all. Tell your friends!

> Need more coffee...

Thanks for reminding me; time to brew another pot.

~~Dru / jX

[jonnyX]

On Monday, May 8, 2017 at 8:29:27 PM UTC-5, jonnyX wrote:

> Quick question: Who would be interested in participating in the proposed Linux+/LPIC-1/CentOS7 certification study group this summer? Please either respond here or email me privately by Wednesday.

Howdy,

Couple of clarifications:

The Wednesday deadline was just so I could get a rough count to NTC. There is no deadline or cut-off date (yet; more on that below).

Those of you who are members of the Meetup group as well saw that we had a much larger response there than here on the Google group; there's a point in favor of keeping Meetup. Here's a cut & paste of what I sent to the NTC late last night (and cc:d to John O.) before I hit the sack; remember, NTC was looking for 15 attendees minimum:

> We have received twenty-three "Yes!" commitments within the last 48 hours, just from NLUG:
>
> 16 via our Meetup group
> 6 via our Google group
> 1 via personal email
>
> The VMware and DevOps user groups are checking with their people too and will forward names & email addresses to John and me over the next couple of days. Since we still have a month's worth of promoting to do (and 7-8 more user groups to approach)(and an installfest on May 20th), if you decide to host us what is the upper limit on the number of people you would want to attend for each session? Realistically (and based on previous experience) I'd guestimate that ~33% of the current "Yes!" people will flake out (leaving 15-16 of the first respondents), but given the response so far and the other groups we're hitting where this certification would be useful on one's resume, we have a good chance of starting the first session with ~40-50 people (I'm hesitant to allow more than that). Figure an additional ~20%-30% total attrition rate once the sessions start, and we'll probably wrap up the last session with somewhere between ~30-40 people.

John, what's an upper limit that you're comfortable with? Do we need a maximum attendance cap? "Spaces are limited and going fast, reserve yours now before it's too late!"

Tilghman suggested the Nashville Software School as an alternative. Another cut and paste from last night's email to NTC:

> Since you aren't normally open on weekends, would the Nashville Software School be a better option? Even if they aren't usually open weekends either? I see some stuff about "Saturdays from 9am-2pm" at http://nashvillesoftwareschool.com/programs/getting-started/ (which gives me hope) but no other info about weekend hours that I can find on the rest of their site. I'd think that having people who've worked in the IT industry, and who are willing to freely help anyone (including their students) gain industry certifications, would be something they might be interested in. Especially if we're willing to do this year-round with other industry certifications as well (which is something we're tentatively planning for, assuming the summer sessions go well). Feel free to forward this to them, and/or I can submit it via their webform contact page in the morning.

No reply from NTC yet. I was going to wait 'til just before 1:00pm if I hadn't heard anything by then and submit an intro message via the NSS contact webform (ie - as people are theoretically returning from lunch & sitting back down at their computers), then start making calls. Tilghmen has contacts there, so that's another angle to work. I assume we'll pick up *some* study session attendees from NSS students if we wind up there (maybe more than just "some"?), hence the worries about possibly capping this.

Comments/criticisms/suggestions?

~~Dru / jX

PS - Vincent, can you post & recruit via VMUG? I don't want to spam your group. Let John & me know if you want to collaborate on an intro/info message first.

[Harvey Simpson]

I know this is probably a dumb question. Is there a charge for these study groups?

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[jonnyX]

On Friday, May 12, 2017 at 4:39:23 PM UTC-5, tleeonly wrote:

> I know this is probably a dumb question. Is there a charge for these study groups?

Not a dumb question at all; if you had to ask, I should probably put it in a FAQ (note to self: solicit help for a Linux+/LPIC-1/CentOS7 group study FAQ, since I don't want to write the whole thing myself).

Short answer: Nope. No charge.

Slightly longer answer: We've talked about doing an IndieGoGo or GoFundMe fundraiser to help get NLUG back on it's feet, become a non-profit again, pay Meetup fees, get a Center for Nonprofit Management membership (free legal and accounting services), maybe even putting a tip jar out at events, but it's all been talk and ideas so far. Nothing concrete. If we do the crowdfunding fundraiser, I want to do it right (seen too many go horribly wrong to risk jumping in without a plan); if we do fundraising in other ways, I want it discussed by the NLUG community first. In the meantime, if anyone is feeling generous, no offers will be refused. Howard, as our Treasurer, feel free to comment.

~~ Dru / jX

[tleeonly]

On Monday, May 8, 2017 at 8:29:27 PM UTC-5, jonnyX wrote:

[Harvey Simpson]

Add me to the study group. thanks

[Maranda Kelley]

Good morning,

I have two people (including myself) interested in the study group.

[John Halter]

Add me also, please.

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