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SysAdmins

Entry 373, on 2006-07-29 at 22:10:08 (Rating 3, Computers)

According to Slashdot it is national sysadmin day. I'm not sure who created this day or how "official" it is (whatever that means) but I suppose we have days for just about everyone else, so why not?

In the "old days" of computing (a whole 25 years ago) when we worked on mainframes the sysadmin was responsible for our entire computing experience. Now that we have independent PCs which run without constant tinkering by admins you might think they are less necessary, but the increased connectivity of computers means there is still an important role for them in providing central infrastructure.

Some sysadmins are good at finding reasons why users can't do something instead of finding a way to make unusual requirements happen for them. This is a common attitude because its easier to keep a system stable and secure if there are strict limits on what it can do.

This is the main reason I like to run my own systems. I treat functionality first and stability and security second - but I only run small systems and have had a couple of minor security issues - so I can understand why admins of big systems would be far more cautious.

I guess there must be a sensible compromise between functionality and safety somewhere. I just haven't found an admin yet who has found that compromise! So do they deserve their own day? Maybe not, a day is too much. I think system administrator appreciation hour would be enough!

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