Jim Henderson wrote:

> On Wed, 13 Mar 2013 20:28:07 +0000, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:
> 
>> Well, that's the thing. In the Real World, it's trivial to look up
>> what some specific obscure option does.
> 
> Removing a package is, arguably, not an obscure option one would use
> occasionally.
> 
> I had a similar debate with a physics prof once in college - the
> course was for engineering students, but I was a CS student, so I'd
> have reference materials available to ensure that I was coding the
> forumulas properly in my simulation - and if I didn't remember the
> exact formula for calculating lift based on a particular airfoil
> shape, I wouldn't guess, I'd look it up.
> 
> [...]

You make an unfair comparison. He wanted you to know and have understood 
enough about physics to reconstruct the formula on the spot. But I bet 
it wouldn't have been a requirement to remember the name of every 
variable as it was used in the lecture. In fact, bound variables in a 
formula can be named anyway you want. For example, integrating f(s) over 
s in [0,1] or f(t) over t in [0,1] is the same.

My comparison:
- Knowing a formula is like knowing how to connect dmesg and grep with a 
pipe in order to find out why the graphics card's module didn't load.
- Knowing the right (by convention) name of a variable is like knowing 
that -e is for removing a package.

The first thing is essential to learn, while the second you learn 
automatically over time.

> Remember that a certification exam is a measure of a minimally
> qualified
> candidate to do a particular job or task.  A minimally qualified
> candidate on Linux *should* be able to install/remove packages without
> having to look the command up every time they do it.

Note that the certification exam doesn't require you to be able to 
answer every question. So it only checks whether you know the names of a 
lot of options and commands while still allowing you to fail at some of 
them. This arguably tests how much experience you have with Linux, 
because you memorise these names automatically if you use common Linux 
commands often.

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