Phasor Burn

Seriously dude, turn on syntax checking in your code editor…

Aha, so it was a cross site scripting (XSS) attack

Alrighty. Twitter general fail. Sigh.

Next!

I’ve been following a thread on the LOPSA discuss mail list, about system administration becoming a profession and what needs to happen for that. It’s been a commonly recurring topic over the years in USENIX, SAGE, and now LOPSA circles :

Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:44:16 -0700
From: Etaoin Shrdlu
Subject: Re: [lopsa-discuss] Professional standards.

Luke S Crawford wrote:

> david@lang.hm:

>> also, if whatever standard is created would mean that
>> a large portion of the senior people in the field are
>> not ‘qualified’ (and for most proposals, would never
>> have become qualified), that standard starts off in
>> a _very_ bad position.

> I think this is quite insightful.

Me too, but read on…

> I’ve got about 14 years of paid SysAdmin experience…

> Anyhow, I think I have something of a defensible claim
> to the ‘Senior SysAdmin’ title. If nothing else, people
> seem to be repeatably willing to pay me for it. However,
> I’ve got nothing resembling a formal education. This is not,
> as far as I can tell, unusual.

Back when I was in a position to hire (I’ve been retired for 3+ years now), if we were looking for someone to do system administration, a degree counted against, not for, the person we were looking at. It was felt that the type of person who had a degree would not stick with the day-to-day work that a good administrator does, and would only be looking for an SA job while between other jobs that they actually wanted to do.

In my experience hiring people with degrees to do system administration work, this was usually borne out. There is something about system administration that almost demands on the job learning, rather than a formal education, and while there are plenty of people in the field who *have* degrees and are well known in the field, they often do multiple things that one would be hard-pressed to classify as system administration.

> Getting me to spend another 4+ years in school, though,
> that would require significant encouragement. (and thus,
> for your test to seem worth it to employers, those who
> pass your test need to be better than people like me.
> Not impossible, but it’s setting the bar, perhaps higher
> than you intend.)

I don’t think the correct word is “better” here. I disagree, strongly, that it’s something you can teach in school. The very best system administrators I’ve known over the years have always had strong mentors.

I’ve known some with advanced degrees (even a couple of PhD folks), and I’ve known at least one who had not finished high school. I can’t always tell you what to look for, but I know them when I see them (and my hiring choices turned out 100%).

I’ve done SA stuff in life, but I don’t consider myself one. Sometimes you have to wear multiple hats just to get the job done. Although I’d have been gravely insulted to be called a manager while I was still working, during the last five years I worked, I mostly managed other people (and I was good at it). System Administrators are some of the most important staff members you can have, but it just seems to be a calling, rather than a formal framework.

–
I like mathematics because it is not human and has
nothing particular to do with this planet or with the
whole accidental universe - because, like Spinoza’s God,
it won’t love us in return. (Bertrand Russell)
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I can’t add anything to this, other than to say I agree 110%. This is spot on. I got my foothold via a really great mentor. I hope to be one myself some day.

I have had some moments of enjoyment helping to illuminate someone on some bit of general system admin philosophy or specific scripting methods, watching them take the ball and run with it.

Unfortunately my current $work has a habit of ripping the carpet out from under me by firing these people right when I think I might be making some headway on the mentor angle.

botany awakes, originally uploaded by D’Arcy Norman.

Ahhhh! A sure sign of spring. These guys don’t last more than a few weeks too… I’ll have to get out onto Nose Hill or something like that in the next few days.

I am hired because I know what I am doing, not because I will do whatever I am told is a good idea.

This might cost me bonuses, raises, promotions, and may even label me as “undesirable” by places I don’t want to work at anyway, but I don’t care.

I will not compromise my own principles and judgement without putting up a fight.

Of course, I won’t always win, and I will sometimes be forced to do things I don’t agree with. My objections will be made known.

If I am shown to be right and problems later develop, I will shout “I told you so!” repeatedly, laugh hysterically, and do a small dance or jig as appropriate to my heritage.

Origin of this quote can be found here

Delights in saying “Told ya!” when such situations arise… check.

Those that know me will be nodding their heads right about now.

Err…. no comment, except to say I completely identify with The Fluffy Admin.

Perl isn’t really a swiss army knife. That’s more like C.

Perl is a large, metallic toolbox containing:
-a complete set of box-end wrenches in metric and imperial, except 10mm and 3/8″
-a selection of five machinists’ hammers
-one regular construction hammer
-ten- and twelve-pound sledgehammers
-complete set of Robertson screwdrivers
-and an infinite length of duct tape

Charles Cazabon

Which is why I have tried to avoid it when possible.

I became a master of sh + sed + awk instead, and am now transitioning nicely to Ruby without detouring through Perl Purgatory or PHP Point of no return.