Why I let my RHCE expire
For me, the Year Of The Linux Desktop was 1995. I was already a Linux power user long before I actually sat for my RHCA/RHCE exams. I did not pay for the RedHat training as I didn’t need it. I just spent a couple of evenings reviewing some of the things I hadn’t had that much hands-on with and then sat for the exam.
This was the first computer certification exam I had ever taken. Previously, I had never been a big fan of certification exams because they had been mostly memorization exams. The most infamous being the MCSE (Must Consult Someone Experienced, Minesweeper Consultant and Solitaire Expert, etc) which everyone seemed to have back in the late 90s/early 2000s.
But the RHCE was different. Not only was it in my favorite domain (Linux) but it was an actual hands on practical exam. Not a written test that would favor those good at rote memorization. This was an certification exam that I could respect.
Although I had long relied on my network of people who knew me to be a Linux expert I decided it was time to get some third party validation that I knew what I was doing to expand my personal marketing to a broader audience.
Having passed the exam, I no longer have anything to prove (not that I ever had much in the first place). One could argue (and I’m sure that RedHat would in favor of their revenue) that Linux changes and that one should validate that their experience is up to date, I don’t feel that need. If the fact that I’ve been a daily driver desktop Linux user since 1995 and I’m typing this markdown into vim on a Debian 20 system isn’t enough to show you that I’ve kept my Linux skills up to date, nothing will.
Plus, two things have changed:
First, RedHat was acquired by IBM and the results have not been agreeable to me. They killed CentOS, Fedora is not the same, etc. I used to have RedHat or RedHat derived systems everywhere including at home. No longer. Now it’s Ubuntu in most commercial environments and all Debian at home. Yes, the Debian distro fanatics were right all along.
Second, although I was always the Linux security guy, my career has moved away from Linux Sysadmin more towards security in a broader sense to include compliance. I still specialize in Linux security and use
So, in the interest of integrity and full transparency I alway sinclude this note/asterisk/parenthentical wherever I can to clearly show that I did pass the exam once upon a time and that the certification is currently expired and not planning to be renewed.
Tracy R Reed
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