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Tomorrow is System Administrator Day 2006

ferrgle writes with a reminder of the annual observation of Sysadmin Day. "This celebration's aim is to acknowledge the tireless effort that sysadmins perform every day of the year. It is celebrated on the last Friday of July and more info can be read at sysadminday.com This year there is also a dedicated site for sys admins who are Welsh or who live in Wales (it can be found at sysadminday.org.uk). We hope that all sys admins have a nice day on Friday and get a little less hassle than normal."

30 of 83 comments (clear)

  1. Happy time is over by Overzeetop · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now get back to work, damnit. My email is down again.

    Sincerely,
    the CEO

    --
    Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
    1. Re:Happy time is over by glsunder · · Score: 3, Funny

      Dear CEO,
      Turn off your caps lock when typing your password.

  2. In celebration... by andrewman327 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    In order to show how underappreciated they are, I think sysadmins should just go party instead of coming into the office on Friday. When thousands of dollars go missing and the building burns to the ground, they won't be to blame (and Milton will get away again).

    --
    Information wants a fueled airplane waiting at the hangar and no one gets hurt.
    1. Re:In celebration... by rbanzai · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hey I actually PREVENTED the building from burning to the ground. The power cord from our primary UPS was defective and was starting to melt. For some reason only my nose could pick up the faint plastic smell, and I was able to track it all the way to the back of the server rack, right to the plug. Damn thing was already burning when I got everything shut down.

      Did not get even a single mmumbled "thanks" from my boss. He looked terrified during the event though so I guess that's as good as it's going to get, watching him sweat his ass off.

  3. Lies by happyfrogcow · · Score: 5, Funny

    Some SysAdmin at /. is probably just upset and hacked this story onto the front page.

    I'll believe it when my SysAdmin comes complaining on monday that we forgot about SysAdmin Day. And even then, I won't believe it.

  4. Woohoo. by HugePedlar · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Think this'll make any difference if I put a notice on my door? Of course, that assumes people come to see me, rather than summoning me to their desks.

    --
    Argh.
  5. Yes... by GillBates0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yes, it's going to be a S.A.D. day for the rest of us.

    --
    An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
    1. Re:Yes... by mobby_6kl · · Score: 3, Funny

      The Department of Redundancy dept. would like to have a word with you, Bill.

    2. Re:Yes... by chgros · · Score: 2, Funny

      A typical case of RAS syndrome.

  6. Now that's importance by VikingThunder · · Score: 2

    You know you are important when you have to remind everyone that tomorrow is your day.

  7. GIft ideas by Eric+Pierce · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So what would make a good gift for a well deserving system admin? Funny or serious ideas are welcome.

    (Nick, I know you read ./ Ignore the rest of this thread for your own good.)

    1. Re:GIft ideas by Klaidas · · Score: 2, Informative
    2. Re:GIft ideas by Alphager · · Score: 3, Informative

      thinkgeek.com

  8. And because it's the last Friday in July... by Billosaur · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...no one will be at work to thank their Sysadmin, unless they've brought their laptop to the beach and are logged on remotely. Summer hours, people! And mind you, most Sysadmins never see the light of day, so you'd never find them at the beach.

    --
    GetOuttaMySpace - The Anti-Social Network
  9. Yay! by Chysn · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh, I LOVE System Administrator Day! First, I make my way through a bouquet of brightly-colored balloons to my desk, where there's a pot of orchids waiting for me. I open the card and I'm pleasantly surprised to find FOUR Tigers tickets; it was only two last year.

    At lunch, they take me to the best place in town. "On us," they say. "Have the prime rib, and don't worry about having a couple glasses of wine. Gina in Human Resources is handling the server today." When we get back to the office, there's a mariachi band and talk of a stripper. "Nothing's getting done today!" exclaims the boss as he whips out a beer-stained toga.

    After the cake, it's all, "Hey, Chysn, why don't you cut out early today? And leave your pager with Gina."

    --
    --I'm so big, my sig has its own sig.
    -- See?
    1. Re:Yay! by guruevi · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yep, happens every year for me... but as soon as you try to leave the building: oooh, guruevi, guruevi, wait a second, we just got a problem with this computer.... aaargh...

      --
      Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
  10. My sysadmin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful
    From the website referenced:
    A sysadmin ... installed an operating system, patched it for security, ...
    Mine didn't think it needed to be patched for Sasser so it went down.
    ... and kept backups in case anything went wrong.
    Mine didn't test the backups which were corrupted and we lost over a week's worth of work.
    A sysadmin makes sure your network connection is safe, secure, open, and working.
    Mine doesn't know how to properly configure a firewall so our software development tools that require special connections to the servers don't work.
    ... and keeps the printers going ...
    Mine installed *special* spool management software to track printing costs with the thought that it would curb abuse and save money. It cost $30k to install and another $10k per year to manage, for what they estimated would be $11k savings per year (which also isn't happening).
    A sysadmin worries about ... power outages...
    Mine can spend $50K for a new server but can't spend $10-$20k for a generator so we have no backup (unless you count a 15 minute UPS)
    When the email server goes down ...
    The only time our production server goes down is because my SysAdmin decided to do patches or updates in the middle of the day without telling anyone.

    Don't hire a sys admin right out of school and hope he'll "grow" into the job.
    1. Re:My sysadmin by Brickwall · · Score: 2, Funny
      We run Win2000 PC's hooked up to an AS-400 at my office of roughly 400 peons. I work in analysis, and I have lots of reports that need to be copied to other locations on a daily basis. I wrote DOS batch files to take care of that.

      One day, my PC won't open any files. The mouse works, the cursor moves around the screen, but nothing happens when you try to open the file. I call my sysadmin. She arrives, and asks "What seems to be the problem?".

      I tell her I can't open anything, even my batch files. Her response "What's a batch file?".

      --
      What was once true, is no longer so
  11. Already sent out notices by smooth+wombat · · Score: 2, Funny

    On monday I sent out an email to people I know who work in the industry and who might appreciate celebrating tomorrow. I even talked to my supervisors and while they all agreed it would be nice to celebrate, those higher up the food chain, not to mention the users, would not appreciate giving us a small token of appreciation.

    Unfortunately we're not in a position to muck with the system such as putting on special logon scripts or delaying taking care of issues so for us it's just another friday. *sigh*

    At least I, and a few others, get free pizza for doing some other work last month so I'll take what I can get.

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
  12. Re:Most People Will ask... by David+McBride · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Explained beautifully here: http://www.deadtroll.com/sysadmin/

  13. Help your sysadmin - download all MS updates! by wowbagger · · Score: 5, Funny

    Remember - help your sysadmin out: download all updates from Microsoft, especially things like Window Genuine Assurance, IE7, and any antivirus programs - some of which will show up when you browse certain web sites.

    It will make your sysadmin's life much easier if he doesn't have to do these downloads for you - so don't bother asking them before you do the downloads; that just makes more work for them.

    (For the stupid among the moderators - this post is sarcastic humor. Of course I don't mean YOU - I mean the OTHER moderators that are stupid.)

  14. Break out the bananas!!! by intrico · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's server monkey day, and every geek is celebratin', YAY!!!

  15. Thanks, guys by blueZ3 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I rarely if ever see the sys admins here at work... I'm moderately well-informed and handle most of the problems on my Windows, Linux, and ESX systems myself. But I am aware of the work that goes into keeping the network running and everything humming along.

    So, from one of those "customers" you never talk to, a sincere thanks for your often unsung efforts.

    --
    Interested in a Flash-based MAME front end? Visit mame.danzbb.com
  16. What I did for my SAs by jcayer · · Score: 2, Insightful

    At my last place, I managed 3 SAs. I picked up a big tub from Walmart and filled it with snacks from BJs. I bought the big box of assorted candy bars, the big box of assorted chips, popcorn, nuts, etc. Needless to say this was well received and lasted several months. The fact that it lasted months was the plan. I could have bought them lunch, but it would have been gone and forgotten in a week.

    We actually had to store it in the computer room for safe keeping.
    Josh

  17. Re:Stupid by hey! · · Score: 3, Informative

    Same for valentine's day or mother's day.

    My kids asked me one Mother's day, "Hey, how come there's no Kids Day?". Answer: "Because every other friggen day of the year is kids day."

    Sad to say, there a plenty of people out there who tend to treat people who are important or do important things to them like they are furniture. With kids, of course, it's natural, and it's your fault if you don't train 'em out of it.

    But it doesn't hurt to be forced to at least fake appreciation for those people once and a while. I view it kind of like putting a paraplegic on a machine that works and stretches his leg muscles. Maybe if science finds a cure for his condition, then his unused muscles won't be atrophied past any hope of recovery.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  18. Does this mean? by citizenklaw · · Score: 2, Funny

    That we can have sex tomorrow?

    Wait, I forget. This is Slashdot. :-P

    --
    the future is but past forgotten
  19. Sysadmin of the year contest. by PMcGovern · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If you happen to know a great Sysadmin, nominate them as Sysadmin of the year 2006. They can win great prizes including an Apple MacBook, Trip to LISA (conference) in Washington DC, Splunk Professional server and cases of Bawls. The first 2500 nominees receive a free ThinkGeek Tshirt.

    Sponsored by OSTG (owner of Slashdot.org).

    http://www.sysadminoftheyear.com/

  20. maytag sysadmin by sgt+scrub · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Last year I got this conversation.

    Boss: When you first started here spam dropped to almost nothing, downtime was determined by the building having power, and you added several services that helped everyone become more productive.
    Me: Thanks man.
    Boss: But, what happened this year?
    Me: What do you mean?
    Boss: I never see you do anything. What have you done this year?
    Me: How much spam do you get each day?
    Boss: One maybe two.
    Me: How many times has someone been unable to get their email?
    Boss: I think so in so had trouble when he was in Dunabi.
    Me: Once?
    Boss: Sounds right.
    Me: Are there services that you want but we don't have?
    Boss: I don't know. What else is out there?
    Me: -shrug- So this year you have hardly no spam, your never down, you have all the tools you can think of needing?
    Boss: -untrusting look- Your being sarcastic aren't you.
    Me: -looks at his watch- Well, see you Monday.

    --
    Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
  21. Re:How do you broach the subject? by lurking · · Score: 2, Funny

    Get in early and set every users home page to http://www.sysadminday.com/

  22. Don't Let Them Forget by Sean0michael · · Score: 3, Funny
    As a sysadmin, it should be easy to get the praise and admiration you deserve tomorrow. Simply revoke the user privileges of every employee, then simply ask that they come see you to have them restored if they are having internet issues. Have them thank you for your hard work, and then magically their computers all work again! Everyone at the company will realize how awesome you are and really appreciate you!

    It went over great at the last place I worked, right before they fired me.

    --
    Funtime Candy Wow! - my plan for eventually conquering Japan.