Important Changes in the CompTIA Linux+ Exam

Soon CompTIA will no longer offer the Linux+ 103 and 104 exams in partnership with LPI and will have a new single-exam certification

CompTIA is a well-known organization in the United States, mainly for the A+ (Hardware and Windows Desktop), Network+ (TCP Network) and Security+ (Digital Security) certifications.

Its tradition with Linux is not great, but thanks to an agreement with LPI, those who still take the CompTIA Linux+ 103 (equivalent to LPI's 101) and CompTIA Linux+ 104 (equivalent to LPI's 102) exams will have both certifications, both CompTIA Linux+ and LPIC-1, at no extra cost.

However, this partnership is about to end this year, because CompTIA is about to launch a single new exam the XK0-004 which will cover the topics of both the 103 and 104 exams, and even more.

The good news is that there are rumors that the exam price will be around 20% lower than the cost of the LPI certification (US$206 for each exam).

The bad news is that if you want to pursue the LPI Linux career, continuing with the LPIC-2 and LPIC-3 certifications, you will need to take the LPIC-1 exam, even if you have the XK0-004 certificate.

Another novelty is that the new exam will contain questions about solving problems in a "pseudo-shell", and not just multiple-choice questions and completing filenames or commands.

And will this be good or bad?

I believe that every IT professional needs to know Linux. After all, Linux greatly expands the possibilities. Simply because Cloud is Linux. Server is Linux. Containers and Kubernetes are Linux. Mobile is Linux. And everything runs better on Linux.

But how deep should the professional go into Linux? It all depends on the customer's taste and naturally the market.

If the professional, after having a Linux certification, intends to specialize in security, databases, or even development, the XK0-004 exam might be a good choice. You take just one exam and still at a lower price than taking both LPIC-1 exams (101/102).

On the other hand, if you are quite fond of infrastructure, and want to specialize in Linux, it won't make sense to just stick with the XK0-004 certification, so it will be worth investing in the LPI career.

What won't make sense is taking the XK0-004 and then following the LPI path.

Take advantage while you can!

In any case, if you want to take advantage of CompTIA's partnership with LPI and have a dual certification, take advantage... there's still time!

Our LPI/CompTIA course was made to put this dual certification in your hands.

Learn much more about Linux in our online course. You can enroll here with a 7-day free trial. If you already have an account, you can access here.

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