[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: [SAGE] Complexity of sysadmin scripts/programs in your organization?

Do we limit the scripting languages? Yes. It took years to get convergence on Perl (as opposed to shell scripting), but maintaining a collection of languages (e.g., Python, Ruby, et al) is too expensive across thousands of machines and requires that too many people learn multiple languages to deal with their jobs. Scripts are also written in Bourne and (unfortunately) Korn shell, but anything of significant complexity has moved to Perl.
Some sysadmins do a considerable amount of Perl programming, others do little. We (some of us more than others) do encourage learning good programming practice, although not everyone has partaken of that particular Koolaid. :-) (I mentor whenever I can!)
When hiring sysadmins (I haven't done that for a few years), I look for people who *can* program. Others in the organisation vary, but unless someone is being hired specifically for tooling, Perl isn't an absolute requirement but it certainly helps. We're a large enough organisation that not everyone has to be a Perl programmer to be a sysadmin.
Personally, I look for troubleshooting skills and a willingness to learn - someone with those attributes can learn Perl.(I've encouraged a number of people to learn Perl and good programming habits. Unfortunately with Perl - the latter is doesn't always happen as a result of the former!) 

- Richard


Eric Wannemacher wrote:

I have searched the archives of this list and found some useful
information about whether sysadmins should be programmers and what
people believe is a script versus a "real" program.  I still do not have
a good idea of what people think is an acceptable level of
programming/complexity for the sys admins as a whole.

At some point there is bound to be someone who has enough programming
experience to work on more sophisticated applications that can be very
helpful, but the organization could be in trouble if that person leaves
and no one else has the necessary skills.

How much programming are sysadmins allowed to do in your organizations
and how does the org maintain the level of knowledge to support those
programs after individuals move on?  I am talking about long lived
scripts/programs and not throwaway data cleanup scripts.

Are you limiting the languages that can be used to "scripting"
languages?  Limiting the complexity?  Specifically hiring people with
programming backgrounds?


Thanks,
Eric Wannemacher