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Are Sysadmins Really that Bad?
tgbrittai asks: "According to Paul Boutin they are merely an obstacle to be manipulated or outmaneuvered. According to Steve Wozniak they are pimps. I've known my share of good and bad sysadmins, programmers and every other professional role out there, and I have to wonder: are sysadmins really THAT bad?"
Most times sys-admins are overworked and underpaid and have to deal with users who take advantage of their local IT person, tasking them to fix systems that they callously break. Others are truly worth the name "Bastard Operators from Hell". How would you rate your sys-admin and what things did you have to do to make things run smoothly (or not)?
Except that it's practically impossible for anything that guy says to be funny. What a douche.
This is probably the only valuable statement in this thread, thanks to rbanzai for pointing it out.
There seems to be much hee-hawing about the job, and how much those in those positions are good/bad/undeserving/experienced/successfull/look good in a suit...
But then, who remembers why someone would pay a person to take on those tasks, to do that work.
Is it because..... maybe.... someone is trying to make money in their company, and they think they need a sys admin?
Nah, that can't be true, otherwise how can us sys admins enjoy the luxury of playing with new technology on the company dime for 80 hours a week and treat everyone, especially paying customers, as inferior? Well, it's only because we were so badly treated in the past we act this way.... how can we be blamed for something as business friendly as Retaliatory Management?
And the company is SO big and SO inhuman, we are justified in giving the minimum effort, and viewing everything the company as a means to serve us, the sys admin's, not the actual paying customers. Whoever they are......
Maybe once we all figure out that we are being paid, not because we are skilled, or experienced, or wear a smile, or took a pay cut, or need the ego boost, but because the company is trying to make money, then we many understand what we need to do to be a little bit better as an employee.
And part of that money goes to you. If you gain more skills, experience, learn to smile at the opportune times, forgoe the pay raise in exchange for other perks, or boost someone else's ego, then maybe you are actually trying to help the company. And maybe, that means more than what everyone else is has said about you, and could be trusted to do more for the company.
But then, I could be wrong...
Utter crap and BS.
You tell him thanks because that's the minimal acceptable social standard, not because delivering on the SLA is any sort of "favor".
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
He's a fat bearded cunt.
A lot of issues plaguing systems admins can be boiled down to respect. I've got 17 years experience as a professional system admin, which is way more practical experience than some business graduate or an MBA fresh out of school. I don't expect them to bow before me, but don't tell me how to do my job. Tell me what outcome you want, but leave the execution up to me. When I became a system admin, I knew I was signing up for long hours, and what is basically a 24/7 job. I am always on call. That being said, remember that I have a wife and kids and a life of my own. I don't mind working during the weekend when necessary, but don't take my personal time for granted. Make it important. Don't call me in the middle of the night because someone is having problems with a dev system. Save those calls for production problems. Remember the quote from the movie "Road House"? "...just be nice." That's all. All I am asking for is a little professional respect.
Excessive drinking is fine...in moderation.