Is Assembler Still Relevant?

quarnap asks: "I'm a system administrator running mostly NT boxes. I got into a discussion with a unix admin over whether a knowledge of assembler was of any use in either of our jobs. He insists it is since it provides a fundamental level of understanding of how computers work. I disagree; I say it isn't needed for ANY system administration work since that level of understanding is way below the level at which system administration operates. What do you think?" We've discussed this issue in a general sense in a previous Ask Slashdot, yet when it comes to System Administration it's a toss up. I can see situations where Assembler experience might be a boon to a sysadmin, but not a requirement for the job. What about you?

Comments

Depends on how you look at it I think.

[ScroP]

Assembler, I think, is very relevant for programming because it really enhances your knowledge about whats really going on. In turn, knowledge of what a program is trying to do while administring a system is also extremely useful. For instance, alot of software might not report errors that mean anything - but if you've had some expirence programming you can makea good guess as to what might be wrong.

So, does assembler directly impact the degree to which a person might be capable of administring a system?

Yes and no.

It may not directly be of use when installing & configuring things, but I think it indirectly is of great value to an administrator who is troubleshooting things; and actually has some knowledge about computers and software that didn't come from a course or book purely on administration.

Are programmer admins that common though? I've done admin work, but I moved on to whatI wanted to do, programming, quickly.