Re: [SAGE] Programmers as.. sysadmins..

[Richard Chycoski <rskiadmin@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In my experience many (if not most) really good programmers can be really 
good sysadmins. Good programmers need a lot of the same good judgment 
required to be a good sysadmin (think about scaling, interoperation, don't 
touch it if you don't understand what you're doing...)

The problem is, there aren't a lot of *really* good programmers out there. 
They especially do not follow that last rule "don't touch it if you don't 
understand what you're doing".

There are lots of coders and hackers masquerading as programmers, and 
letting them near 'root' can be a disaster.

So, I agree that your observation is correct - most of the 'programmers' 
that you find make really poor sysadmins. It may not say a lot about their 
programming abilities, either!

There are enough small shops that have really poor sysadmins, too. I've had 
to help clean up after some of them...

- Richard


Dustin Puryear wrote:
> I was having a conversation the other day with a friend that works for a 
> decently sized software/services shop that works almost strictly for the 
> government. They were looking for a Linux sysadmin (they only ever have 
> one, even though they have quite a few Linux and Solaris servers).
>
> Generally their sysadmin helps manage the applications running on the 
> servers, but a lot of the sysadmin work on the Linux and Solaris boxes 
> (testing and production) are done by the programmers.
>
> I noted "Programmers make the worst sysadmins." He didn't quite get my 
> meaning.
>
> So, my question: Have you found, in your experience, that programmers 
> make bad sysadmins? I have. I'm not saying that all programmers are bad 
> sysadmins, or that PAST programmers make bad CURRENT sysadmins, but that 
> CURRENT programmers almost always make bad CURRENT sysadmins, even if 
> small settings.
>
> Some reasons I've found this to be true:
>
> o programmers want to get the job done, and taking short-cuts on the 
> server often comes into play.
> o programmers don't seem to get it when it comes to managing more than 
> one box.
> o programmers treat a UNIX server like they treat their home Linux box.
> o etc.
>
> The thing is, I see this in A LOT of sites, although it tends to happen 
> more often in smaller tech-focused companies.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> P.S. Yes, I know that "it depends on the person". I'm generalizing, but 
> I'm also saying that my generalization tends to be correct on this 
> point. ;)