Hi,
I haven't seen very many good sysadmins.
I haven't seen very many good programmers.
Of those that I have seen, the good sysadmins were also good programmers.
Rich.
On Wed, 30 Jan 2008, 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. ;)