Questions about Membership & PDUs

Yes, as a member all your professional level certifications will be extended for the duration of your membership.

In order to be eligible to become a member you need to have either,

A) An active professional level certification (LPIC-1, LPIC-2, LPIC-3, DevOps Tools Engineer, BSD Specialist), 

OR;

B) An inactive/ expired professional level certification AND submit claims worthat 20 PDUs earned during the past 12 months which demonstrate that you are still using and improving your skills and knowledge.

If you meet eligibility requirements (see question above), then you can press the ‘request membership’ button when you are signed into your People Portal account. Please visit this link to get started: https://people.lpi.org/memberships

LPI staff will then manually review the request. Once we approve the request you will receive a notification that will instruct you to pay your membership dues.

During this process, you will be required to agree to our Code of Conduct.

Yes, but first you need to submit 20 PDUs that were obtained within the past 12 months in order to apply for a one-year or three-year membership term, and start your first three-year PDU cycle.

You can connect with other members and staff by visiting https://discuss.lpi.org. Questions can be directed to membership@lpi.org.

A Professional Development Unit is a demonstration of your expertise in Linux and open source. You earn them through work experience, education (both learning and teaching), conference attendance, volunteer work, community participation, and other relevant activities. See our PDU details page for more information.

Members submit claims for PDUs in order to maintain their eligibility for membership (and subsequently extend their certifications) by demonstrating that they have been growing and using their skills. 

Additionally, PDUs can also be used to reactivate an inactive/ expired certification for the purpose of joining as a member.

No, If you have an active certification, you are able to sign up for membership without needing any PDUs.

Yes, if your certifications are inactive/ expired then you will be required to submit claims for 20 PDUs for activities or achievements within the previous 12 months.

Once your membership period starts, you need to submit 60 PDUs worth of activities (some are worth 20) over the following three years. If you are not planning on continuing your membership beyond the three year cycle, no PDUs are required. However, you will not be able to start an additional three year membership cycle if you don’t meet the previous cycle’s PDU requirements.

At the end of your three-year PDU cycle you will need to have submitted 60 PDUs in order to renew your membership and start a new three-year PDU cycle.

If you are on a one-year membership term, you can renew your membership two more times (without submitting any PDUs) in order to complete the three-year PDU cycle. By the end of the three one-year membership terms you will need to have submitted 60 PDUs in total in order to start a new three-year PDU cycle.

The amount of PDUs earned is dependent on the type of activity.  See our PDU details page for more information.

A PDU cycle is a three year period of time that starts the day your membership is activated.

Completing the three year cycle and submitting 60 PDUs will make you eligible to renew your membership for another 3 year PDU cycle.

A PDU cycle is used for tracking your professional development and eligibility for membership renewals.

A membership term is a one or three year period for which you will be a member. Your certifications will be extended for the duration of your membership.

You are able to complete three one-year membership terms or one three-year membership term that will coincide with the three year PDU cycle.

All PDUs fall into one of three main categories: Education, Community Participation and Experience.

Education includes both Learning activities and Teaching activities. Undertakings such as achieving a new certification, attending a relevant academic course, and mentoring people all count towards professional development credits.

Community Participation encompasses activities related to Advocacy, Professional Associations and LPI-related programs. This could include open source advocacy work, contributing to an open source project or volunteering with LPI.

Experience PDUs come from Employment and Volunteer activities. Eligible PDU tasks in this category include work you do for your job that use the skills covered in your certifications, as well as volunteering at non-profit organizations where you specifically use these same skills.

See our PDU details page for more information.

For proof of experience, you are simply required to show that you work in a capacity relevant to your certifications. You can provide information about your position (title, responsibilities, etc.) and back it up with something such as a LinkedIn profile, or a letter from your employer. Linux Professional Institute will not contact anyone to confirm PDUs.

There is no limit to how many times you can renew your membership, which keeps your certifications active, as long as you successfully complete your three-year PDU cycle.