Test Your Knowledge of A+

A sample quiz of 50 questions from the new version of the A+ Essentials exam is now posted at http://www.unixreview.com/documents/s=10092/ur0607d/ur0607d.htm with answers at the bottom. This is the biggest revision to the certification that CompTIA has done, and reducing the core hardware element to 21% (for a certification that everyone equates with "that hardware certification") is significant.

Within a month, another 50 questions will post on elective ("technician") exam topics.

What Linux REALLY Needs

An article on why Linux has not taken the world by storm after promising to do so for 15 years, and what it really needs in order to catch some momentum can be found at http://certcities.com/editorial/columns/story.asp?EditorialsID=206. The top seven Linux adoption excuses are given and then what I believe the real reason to be for its slow growth. The comments readers are adding to the column are invaluable and worth the read as well.

An Examination of New A+ Exams

A comparison of the old A+ certification and the new one (coming out this year) can be found at http://www.unixreview.com/documents/s=10092/ur0607b/. This will be followed up by a fifty question test on this topic to be posted later in the month. So popular is the A+ certification from CompTIA that there are currently more than 600,000 individuals certified worldwide. This entry-level, vendor-neutral certification is almost a necessity for anyone wanting to enter the field and work with hardware.

Ubuntu Practice Test

Fifty practice questions for the new Ubuntu certification are now posted at http://www.unixreview.com/documents/s=10092/ur0607g/. To earn this certification, you must first become LPI certified at Level I (LPIC I), and then pass an additional exam.

Advanced Host Intrusion Prevention with CSA

A review of the new Cisco book, Advanced Host Intrusion Prevention with CSA, by Chad Sullivan, Jeff Asher, and Paul Mauvais is posted at http://www.unixreview.com/documents/s=10092/ur0607c/. A very small book that builds upon an earlier title, this is as concise and succinct a reference to Cisco Security Agent (CSA) as you’ll find. Currently, CSA is supported on the Microsoft platforms as well as Solaris and Red Hat. CSA is the product Cisco offers for an “endpoint protection” IPS (Intrusion Prevention System); it is not difficult to implement this software but can be arduous to master it. This book takes the approach of walking you through the implementation and all the way up to, and through, troubleshooting.