With all this, should you still bother to get certified? If you plan to be employed in Linux in the long run, it's probably worth it. Some companies, like IBM are strongly encouraging their partners to get either LPIs or RHCEs. Indeed, IBM will pay its middleware partners up to $3000 for their Linux certification costs. With companies like Dell, HP, and Oracle also lining up behind Linux, it's likely that they too will eventually support certification and with this support, Linux certification, in turn, will become important for job-seekers.

In the short run, for both potential employees and employers, a Linux certification shows that someone is serious about Linux. Lots of people can talk the Linux talk, but can barely walk around a KDE desktop. With a Linux certification, you can at least be sure that the holder is trying to master Linux rather than play with it.

Another current reason to get a RHCE is that, according to a December 2001 salary survey by Certification Magazine is that at shops that do recognize this certification, RHCE holders make 9.6% more salary per year. Now if only more employers paid attention to Linux certifications, there'd be no question about the need to get one.

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