New Year's Resolutions For Linux Admins: Automate More, Learn New Languages (networkworld.com)

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New Year's Resolutions For Linux Admins: Automate More, Learn New Languages (networkworld.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on Sunday December 31, 2017 @08:34PM from the performance-reviews dept.

An anonymous reader writes: A long-time Unix sys-admin is suggesting 18 different New Year's resolutions for Linux systems adminstrators. And #1 is to automate more of your boring stuff. "There are several good reasons to turn tedious tasks into scripts. The first is to make them less annoying. The second is to make them less error-prone. And the last is to make them easier to turn over to new team members who haven't been around long enough to be bored. Add a small dose of meaningful comments to your scripts and you have a better chance of passing on some of your wisdom about how things should be done."

Along with that, they suggest learning a new scripting language. "It's easy to keep using the same tools you've been using for decades (I should know), but you might have more fun and more relevance in the long run if you teach yourself a new scripting language. If you've got bash and Perl down pat, consider adding Python or Ruby or some other new language to your mix of skills."

Other suggestions include trying a new distro -- many of which can now be run in "live mode" on a USB drive -- and investigating the security procedures of cloud services (described in the article as "trusting an outside organization with our data").

"And don't forget... There are now only 20 years until 2038 -- The Unix/Linux clockpocalypse."

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Useless advice by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 20:43 · Score: 0

Learning another scripting language in order to do the exact same stuff.....
1. Re: Useless advice by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 20:48 · Score: 0
  
  Here's a new year's resolution for you: Strap yourself to a rocket and launch it to demonstrate that the Earth is flat.
2. Re: Useless advice by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 22:02 · Score: 0
  
  This is actually cute, clever, and most of all funny. But you can guarantee that Linux zealots on Slashdot will go into full butthurt mode and viciously mod bomb this post. They handle mockery of GNU/Linux about as well as Muslims handle cartoons of Muhammad.
3. Re: Useless advice by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 22:26 · Score: 0
  
  On the contrary. We pay little attention to the ramblings of deranged, ignorant morons.
  It would have been nice if you had some intelligent criticism of GNU and or Linux but that seems far out of your capability.
4. Re:Useless advice by Hognoxious · 2017-12-31 22:32 · Score: 2
  
  Does shytstaind contain its own scripting language yet?
  
  --
  Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
5. Re:Useless advice by 50000BTU_barbecue · 2017-12-31 22:56 · Score: 0
  
  What do you think 98% of our Western economic model is all about?
  
  --
  Mostly random stuff.
6. Re:Useless advice by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 01:35 · Score: 0
  
  I'm sure systemd does.
7. Re:Useless advice by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 01:43 · Score: 0
  
  Given enough time they are sure to introduce sufficient unit definitions for the whole thing to be Turing complete...
8. Re: Useless advice by iamgnat · 2018-01-01 04:01 · Score: 1
  Here's a new year's resolution for you: Strap yourself to a rocket and launch it to demonstrate that the Earth is flat.
  The GP isn't wrong though. As part of pushing "DevOps" my company is pushing the Admins to become "real" programmers and as such is trying to shove Python down their throats.
  While I'm a firm believer in fresh/relevant skills keeps the agism boogyman away, there is also a lot of risk in such a move. What I've seen:
  
  They can't produce the scripts as fast which leads to delays.
  The scripts are more error prone due to the lack of experience.
  Simple BASH scripts can typically take twice the Python code (again, delays)
  BASH and KSH are "loved" because they are everywhere and predictable . While Python is everywhere, it's a damn box of chocolates! What version is installed? Which modules have been installed? Multiple versions of Python that conflict with one another is always fun. etc..
  One Admin that thinks it's great to write all their scripts in Python/Ruby/whatever when the rest of their team has no experience in that language provides "fun" in emergency situations and prevents proper code reviews.
  I'm sure there are more if I put my mind to it too.
  Yes you should always learn new skills and keep up with technology, but you should never do just to do.
  A good [insert role here] knows that while they need to keep their tool box up to date they also need to use the right tool for the right job. Any one-size-fits-all approach is always doomed to problems that should never be.
9. Re:Useless advice by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 04:41 · Score: 0
  
  Learning another scripting language in order to do the exact same stuff.....
  Why would you need to do exact same stuff ... with a new tool?
  If you did proper job first time, there isn't need to fix things that aint broke, but instead with a new toy (ie. that newer language) something that you hadn't done yet and do it with better features (faster, better scaleability, code readability, reliablity, easier expandability, with rest api ... whatever forward looking reason) to make your and perhaps your colleagues life in future bit easier?
  Dunno about you, but I certainly have done so past decades and don't see any reason to quit that before my retirement is due in about 7 years or so.
10. Re:Useless advice by chispito · 2018-01-01 04:53 · Score: 1
  
  Learning another scripting language in order to do the exact same stuff.....
  You're confusing the means and the end here. You don't learn a new scripting language to duplicate work, you duplicate work to learn a new scripting language.
  
  --
  The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
11. Re: Useless advice by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 05:09 · Score: 0
  
  You can potentially code solutions in fewer lines of Python compared to bash too, without having to, say, call perl, awk, or many other external tools that also may or may not be present or behave as expected. If you deploy your own Python environment from which you deploy mission critical scripts then it is potentially more self-contained and dependable.
12. Re:Useless advice by arth1 · 2018-01-01 05:47 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Why would you need to do exact same stuff ... with a new tool?
  You don't. But it's useful to learn new scripting languages because some devop or other will surely use it, very badly, in an installer or maintenance script, which you will have to fix to get it working.
  So that resolution isn't all bad. #16, on the other hand, truly is.
  "It's hard to break old habits, but get used to the newer commands. Maybe it's time to use ip instead of ifconfig and ss instead of netstat. Look into the newer commands and try to roll them into your daily work."
  No, no and no. Compatibility is key. You will still maintain 20 year old systems that cannot be upgraded, and needs more than your department's resources to replace. So you will be stuck using the old commands anyhow. Then what is better, to be able to use the same script snippets everywhere, and know what they do, or to use different commands, some of which change APIs more often than you change your underwear?
  Learn the new commands, but don't use them. Much as you avoid bashisms when there's not a particular reason to use them, you also avoid new commands when there's not a particular reason to use them.
  If you only have a homogenous set of servers, sure, do whatever you like, but then you're not much of a sysadmin either.
13. Re: Useless advice by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 06:33 · Score: 0
  
  Can someone point me to a link that summarizes the hatred for systemd?
14. Re: Useless advice by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 07:02 · Score: 0
  
  If you only have a homogenous set of servers, sure, do whatever you like, but then you're not much of a sysadmin either.
  I'll take that as a compliment. My systems are not children.
15. Re: Useless advice by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 07:03 · Score: 0
  
  Nope, you already lost. It was moderated to -1. No one believes your bullshit anymore. Please, kill yourself to defend the honor of GNU/Linux. We really enjoy it!
16. Re: Useless advice by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 08:11 · Score: 0
  
  yep, planning to retire in 2037. good luck with them clocks!
17. Re:Useless advice by Lost+Race · 2018-01-01 08:56 · Score: 1
  
  By that time they'll have moved on from system-d; they'll probably be up to about system-v or so.
18. Re: Useless advice by donaldm · 2018-01-01 12:59 · Score: 1
  
  Here's a new year's resolution for you: Strap yourself to a rocket and launch it to demonstrate that the Earth is flat.
  Not really since "flat earthers" would not believe no matter what they were shown. However, it would be an excellent example of how the so-called "flat earther" could win a coveted Darwin Award .
  
  --
  There ain't no such thing as proprietary standards only proprietary formats. Standards are by definition open.
19. Re: Useless advice by Zero__Kelvin · 2018-01-01 13:00 · Score: 0
  
  There is only one. You won't find any legitimate ones because it is to easy to debunk the myths if they are gathered together in a single page.
  
  --
  Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
20. Re: Useless advice by iamgnat · 2018-01-01 14:31 · Score: 2
  
  You can potentially code solutions in fewer lines of Python compared to bash too
  For complex things, certainly and at that point you should be using something more practical than BASH anyway.
  If, however, I want to simply execute a shell command (that does not have a Python/Perl/whatever builtin analog), capture it's output to a variable, and check the exit status, BASH is pretty damn simple. Those last two requirements are the biggest killer of Python as that forces you to use subprocess which makes it much more complex than BASH (especially if you want to capture stdout and stderr).
  It's not that things like that are hard or not well documented, but they are more complex to write and don't read as simply. Not only does simplicity serve when writing the code, it also serves when it has to be debugged at 4am due to a Production issue.
  I've done my time as an Admin and much prefer writing real code (of which I happen to specialize in automation), but I recognize that the language I may choose to solve a problem might not really be the best option when all facets of it's deployment and support are taken into account.
  Now what most admins leave out of their code which would do wonders regardless of the language is error checking. I've lost track of the number of messes I've had to cleanup that simply came down to scripts that blindly carry on assuming the world is perfect without bother to check... "if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then" really isn't THAT complicated...
21. Re:Useless advice by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 15:15 · Score: 0
  
  Any competent *nix administrator already automate everything possible to avoid routine, repetitive, and often boring tasks and processed. I manually perform a task one or two times to learn the nuances before automating it.
22. Re: Useless advice by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 15:22 · Score: 0
  
  You can potentially code solutions in fewer lines of Python compared to bash too
  For complex things, certainly and at that point you should be using something more practical than BASH anyway.
  I developed a set of BASH scripts to automate building a GNU/Linux distribution from scratch based on Linux From Scratch releases. After creating the package build definition files you can launch the build process by running a single master script. https://github.com/gdhorne/absf
23. Re: Useless advice by TechyImmigrant · 2018-01-01 17:26 · Score: 1
  
  >If, however, I want to simply execute a shell command (that does not have a Python/Perl/whatever builtin analog), capture it's output to a variable, and check the exit status, BASH is pretty damn simple. Those last two requirements are the biggest killer of Python as that forces you to use subprocess which makes it much more complex than BASH (especially if you want to capture stdout and stderr).
  I have a healthy dislike for subprocess in python, although my primary language has been python in the past few years because I find it productive for the work I do. Instead of subprocess, where interaction with bash is needed, I tend to write python to generate bash commands that write their results to a file which is then read by a python program. This leaves a record of the commands executed and the results, which turns out to be a heck of a lot simpler than wrestling with subprocess.
  
  --
  I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
24. Re:Useless advice by pnutjam · 2018-01-02 02:40 · Score: 1
  
  ifconfig has been depreceated, net-tools last release was 2001. I think it's time to update your skills.
  Yeah, we all deal with old systems, but those should be the exception, not drive the rule.
  
  --
  Cheap storage VM.
25. Re: Useless advice by Walter+White · 2018-01-02 02:50 · Score: 1
  
  Sometimes I surprise myself with what can be accomplished with a simple shell script. I was working on a program to copy pictures from an SD card (from a camera) to directories organized as ".../Pictures/yyyy/mm/dd/." The initial effort was in C# and .net. At the time I could not find a .net library that could extract EXIF tags from the image files. I ran into further troubles trying to port it to Linux. It eventually occurred to me that I could code it as a shell script using various commands to do things like extract and parse EXIF tags, create directories and copy files. The result is a 31 line script that copies all images from the current directory (that have not already been copied) to subdirectories under $HOME/Pictures by EXIF date or, barring that, file creation time.
  I'm still using /bin/sh for scripts. I suppose it's time to move on to /bin/bash. ;)
26. Re: Useless advice by iamgnat · 2018-01-02 03:04 · Score: 1
  
  I developed a set of BASH scripts to automate building a GNU/Linux distribution from scratch based on Linux From Scratch releases. After creating the package build definition files you can launch the build process by running a single master script. https://github.com/gdhorne/abs...
  I know a guy that wrote a Puppet/Chef alternative in KSH. Complex stuff certainly can be done, but it is almost always more convoluted than using a better language for such tasks.
27. Re:Useless advice by arth1 · 2018-01-02 07:44 · Score: 2
  
  ifconfig has been depreceated
  Many of us have to support operating systems that are still sold and supported, like Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, where net-tools is still actively used and relied on by the system itself, or Red Hat Entprise Linux 7, where it is still provided and patched as needed.
  If you have a choice to do otherwise, good for you, but in the mean time let us admins try to follow the Unix philosophies like multiple small tools that each do one thing well, have stable APIs, and provide the least amount of surprise.
28. Re: Useless advice by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-02 17:17 · Score: 1
  
  Sufficient knowledge of ksh should make it pretty much the same as any other language. The only real difference is the lack of libraries to do all the work for you.
I know APK's New Year's resolutions by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 20:54 · Score: 0

Post daily about:
* Banning bump stocks
* Vatican conspiracies
* His hosts file engine
* Moderation is censorship
* Posts being deleted by whipslash
* Reasons why the hosts file engine won't become OpenSORES
* Slashdot users who have destroyed themselves arguing with APK
1. Re:I know APK's New Year's resolutions by arth1 · 2018-01-01 13:37 · Score: 1
  
  Offtopic, as no one would ever mistake apk for a Linux Admin.
Net Neutrality? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 21:06 · Score: 0

Well now you have net neutrality abolished, how can you even ensure that US ISP cartel won't screw over the connection to that cloud provider for extra cash? You can't. If it was on an inhouse server then the ISP wouldn't get the chance to fiddle.
The only thing you can be certain about, is Chairman Pai will leave to get a nice consultancy job with an ISP when he's sacked.
1. Re: Net Neutrality? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 21:20 · Score: 0
  
  George Soros would like to have a word with you...
Best News Year Resolutions 4 Linux Admins: by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 21:11 · Score: 0, Informative

1) Shave your neckbeard.
2) Have sex with someone. Anyone.
3) Take a shower.
4) Flush the toilet.
5) Chew with your mouth closed.
6) Use your nose to breathe.
7) Admit to yourself that 'The Last Jedi' sucked ass.
8) Admit that Windows 10 is better than Linux.
1. Re: Best News Year Resolutions 4 Linux Admins: by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 21:40 · Score: 0
  
  Of course windows 10 is better than Linux: it includes a copy of Ubuntu that doesn't use systemd
2. Re: Best News Year Resolutions 4 Linux Admins: by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 22:30 · Score: 0
  
  So Ubuntu uses Wind 10 as an init system to replace the systemd init system that everyone hates.
  How is that an improvement?
3. Re:Best News Year Resolutions 4 Linux Admins: by enrique556 · 2018-01-01 00:55 · Score: 1
  
  Whoah! Got to step 10 and stopped dead. Admittedly, windows 10 runs visual studio and *games*, but what slashdotter doesn't automatically disqualify operating systems that force ads in the start menu?
  PS: Rogue One is by far the best star wars movie of all.
4. Re: Best News Year Resolutions 4 Linux Admins: by DontBeAMoran · 2018-01-01 02:21 · Score: 0
  
  Windows 10 can run games.
  
  --
  #DeleteFacebook
5. Re:Best News Year Resolutions 4 Linux Admins: by HermMunster · 2018-01-01 04:04 · Score: 1
  
  Windows 10 is not better than Linux.
  
  --
  You can lead a man with reason but you can't make him think.
6. Re:Best News Year Resolutions 4 Linux Admins: by iggymanz · 2018-01-01 08:08 · Score: 1
  
  hmmm, what does windows 10 do out of the box without spending additional money? can I harden a windows 10 system such that it could be directly connected to the internet without issue? unless explicitly configured, will it not send private information to 3rd party? Do I have a choice of scripting languages and can I access all system calls (subject to permissions of course) with them?
7. Re: Best News Year Resolutions 4 Linux Admins: by deek · 2018-01-02 11:18 · Score: 1
  
  So can Linux.
  Granted, not as many, but it's amazing how many native Linux games there are now. I think we can thank Steam for that.
I can do all this, I've got time now... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 21:32 · Score: 1

that systemd has been purged from our infra. No more redhat derivatives.
This years looking like it's going to be a lot fun.
1. Re: I can do all this, I've got time now... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 22:06 · Score: 0
  
  systemd source code!
2. Re:I can do all this, I've got time now... by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 02:52 · Score: 0
  
  Honestly, if I was shopping for a sysadmin; and I found one that expended energy in removing systemd, I wouldn't hire them.
  If you don't know the problem systemd solves, then you don't care about boot time and service dependencies. If you think that initd solves it "just fine" then you don't care about boot time and service dependencies.
  Systemd has grown to larger than its initial effort, but all of the "just use shell scripts" solutions run dog slow. They mostly break if you do any kind of service packaging, and the typos that get lodged into them have an uncanny ability to require more operations people, and more downtime.
  Meanwhile, with systemd, I can now write a simple non-daemonized program and let systemd provide the daemonization.
  Initd has lost, and until it actually improves, will continue to lose. It's been improved 4 times, and systemd is the best of the improvements. Take your whine elsewhere. You've complained without a viable alternative long enough.
3. Re: I can do all this, I've got time now... by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 04:02 · Score: 0
  
  Addressing boot time and service dependencies is good. Whether systemd is the best solution that was possible, is another matter.
4. Re:I can do all this, I've got time now... by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 05:34 · Score: 0
  
  If you compare systemd boot times with a tight syv it's actually slower now. The response from systemD crowd now that they've won is " but it's some much more than an init." so boot times don't matter.
  If you sysadmins can't remove systemd then they arn't worth their salt.
  Our removal of systemd was related to the on going cost of maintenance.. We have actual work to do and on the billable hours available within our unit it took a proportion which we could not defend in budget meetings. If it had just been the initial conversion costs of time/experience that cost could have been sunk over time. But it wasn't.
  Our service dependencies are managed within our container infrastructure and in relation to that systemd is a little backward.
  All in all we're happy to leave it to the point haired boss brigade and the mcse type drones..
  In the end use what works for you ,you enjoy using while giving the flexibility you need and an upstream you trust and like working with.. But if it's missing any of those things change.
5. Re:I can do all this, I've got time now... by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 05:46 · Score: 0
  
  It takes no effort to "remove" systemd, there are plenty of solid distributions that never adopted it. And I'm pretty sure that sysadmins would prefer not to be "shopped" for.
  The constant zero sum game narrative is depressing, no matter how good systemd might be, if you choice is one choice and any subsequent choice must be based upon it, it's not a choice I would make freely. . That's why no choice was given.
6. Re:I can do all this, I've got time now... by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 05:51 · Score: 0
  
  boot time
  Windows gamer detected. No admin worth their salt repeatedly boots their systems for maintenance.
  
  service dependencies
  If you really understand them, then handling them in startup scripts is trivial. If you can't handle them at that level, then you shouldn't have the root password.
7. Re:I can do all this, I've got time now... by iggymanz · 2018-01-01 07:52 · Score: 1
  
  if you don't know what problems systemd creates, you're too ignorant to comment
  systemd is bloated and unreliable garbage
8. Re:I can do all this, I've got time now... by tepples · 2018-01-03 06:26 · Score: 1
  
  No admin worth their salt repeatedly boots their systems for maintenance.
  Like Windows, linux-image in many distributions has its own monthly security update schedule. And unless you subscribe to Oracle Ksplice, these updates require a reboot.
  
  If you really understand [service dependencies], then handling them in startup scripts is trivial. If you can't handle them at that level, then you shouldn't have the root password.
  Then who should have the root password for a home desktop PC? Or how does it benefit the public to require non-technical users to use locked-down, touch-controlled appliances?
Re:Better resolutions for Linux admins by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 21:40 · Score: 0

1) I'm helping with the water shortage
2) I'm helping with the housing shortage
3) You first
4) They should be
5) Why eat cheetos when doritos exist?
6) That's a fate worse than death.
Also take off the blinkers by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 21:45 · Score: 1

Above all learn that your job title should be sysadmin. Be aware that there are other kernels and indeed operating systems with merits.
You wonâ(TM)t learn much of value if you stick to Linux.
1. Re:Also take off the blinkers by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 00:21 · Score: 0
  
  Shove it up your pinko commie ass, comrade.
2. Re:Also take off the blinkers by PPH · 2018-01-01 05:45 · Score: 1
  
  BSD (various), HP-UX, AIX, Solaris, OS X, TPF, z/VM.
  No other useful OSs come to mind at the moment.
  
  --
  Have gnu, will travel.
Get rid of the Trump traitors by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 21:54 · Score: 0

Linux is a secondary concern to treason.
Things that are not well. by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 22:17 · Score: 0

Why is too complicated to fit a Linux's LiveDVD to 4.7GB DVD instead of 2 GB?
Why is there not a Linux's LiveBD in a 50GB BD?
Current software applications are getting fatter, fatter and fatter that exceed the 4.7GB capacity of a DVD.
Why did the International ISO not well properly the job of avoiding these problems? (ISO 9660)
1. Re:Things that are not well. by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 22:27 · Score: 0
  
  ...are you asking why Linux software isn't written horribly?
  Because the reason most software is getting fatter and fatter is exactly because of terrible programmers in almost all cases outside of games.
  Web Browsers in particular are absolutely atrocious when it comes to shitty developers. Go look at the Chromium source code some time. Oh BOY time to kill myself!
  It's trivial to edit ISOs to add your own applications in before you write to disc.
  Not only that, it is also trivial to use a RW DVD and update your disc if you feel the need.
  I lived off a Live DVD for 7 months and no hard drive, with a mere 256 and 512MB USB drive for semi-permanent storage before I wrote things back to the DVD.
  It was oddly calming.
2. Re:Things that are not well. by arth1 · 2018-01-01 05:37 · Score: 1
  
  Why is too complicated to fit a Linux's LiveDVD to 4.7GB DVD instead of 2 GB?
  Why is there not a Linux's LiveBD in a 50GB BD?
  You live in the past. Newer systems don't come with shiny media readers, much like they haven't had tape stations for a while either.
  Booting off a USB stick (or good old bootp for those who know how) is what's done these days. Then media size isn't much of a concern.
whats wrong with linux admins in a nutshell by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 22:22 · Score: 0

Putting personal boredom as a reason to learn a scripting language above stability.
If you think your boredom and need to learn new things is more important than having a stable environment, there is zero chance you get a job at my company.
If your job is not interesting to you, changing your tools is not the answer.
1. Re: whats wrong with linux admins in a nutshell by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 04:08 · Score: 0
  
  Personal growth, which may include learning a new language, may also allow you to learn new ways to do things even in existing languages in use, which may positively impact stability and/or operational stability. Staff with more skills can also provide an organisation with greater agility. So whilst you are correct that compromising stability would be bad, you seem to be missing human motivation, and the bigger picture of improving an organisation.
Why new languages? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 22:24 · Score: 0

After 20 years of experience, I programmed professionally in something like 20 different languages. Seems like a very boring thing to do. At least, C, C++, Ada, perl, python, ruby, java, R, javascript, common lisp, fortran, cobol, vala, coldfusion, and many more that I do not remember.
I will still continue to learn some less boring stuff: biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics,
1. Re:Why new languages? by 0100010001010011 · 2018-01-01 04:33 · Score: 2
  
  Learn something. Way too many of my peers thought that once college was done they were done learning. College got them the job and there was no reason to continue learning.
  Learn something completely unrelated to your job and bridge the gap.
  Right now I'm a mechanical engineer that is trying to play the job of IT DevOps. Because our IT department doesn't understand or want to understand the specific needs of what my group does. "Throw RAM and CPU" at it hasn't worked as our entire toolchain is single threaded and my 8600k beats the pants off of the 16 core dual socket Xeons they give us.
2. Re:Why new languages? by ebvwfbw · 2018-01-02 15:19 · Score: 1
  
  Take flight lessons. Own your own plane. They're only around $40K for a good entry level bird. I did that in 2005 and I still love it.
  Maintenance can be a bummer. One year I spent around 12K. Most years it's more like 2K and that's for a 1950s era Beech aircraft V-Tail. I plan on 140 Kts and I get it most of the time. On a good day it'll do 150 Kts or 170 MPH.
  A pilots license. Your license to learn.
Or perhaps not. by gallondr00nk · 2017-12-31 22:31 · Score: 1, Insightful

"And the last is to make them easier to turn over to new team members who haven't been around long enough to be bored."
Or in other words, automate yourself out of your own job and get replaced by someone cheaper, using your scripts. Never make your job look easy.
1. Re: Or perhaps not. by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 23:02 · Score: 1
  
  You should absolutely automate most of your job. Use what lawyers and accountants call "efficiency" billing. The first time they fill out a form it might take an hour or four to figure it out. That price is how much it costs, even if it only takes two minutes to fill it out again via template and esig. For best results figure out how to automate it at home on your own time and dine. And invoke it from your own toolkit, even if just a text file you paste into a terminal window/into a shell based on your personal email proc lists.
  If your employer has more interesting things for you to do, do them too. If not, you should figure out what you want to do and find a way that can be useful to them in the time you automated. But if you have a typical short term thinking boss, your cutting your own throat if you automate it all. Ditch diggers don't build and give away ditchwitches.
2. Re:Or perhaps not. by DamonHD · 2017-12-31 23:30 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I disagree; that's a bad way to look at things from your point of view and your employer's.
  I have always considered myself to be on a day's notice whenever contracting/consulting, and always work to make myself expendable.
  And guess what:
  1) The person paying you appreciates that you aren't trying to lock them in.
  2) There's usually better, more interesting and more valuable stuff to be done once you have the previous rounds of tedium scripted.
  3) False heroics, ie manually doing things that could easily be automated, makes for cockups and unhappiness. I've seen friends I otherwise respect and admire do this.
  For this I got to be one of the better paid IT guys in my field, and always had interesting stuff to tackle.
  Rgds
  Damon
  
  --
  http://m.earth.org.uk/
3. Re:Or perhaps not. by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 23:59 · Score: 0
  
  That's why you automate what you can, but don't necessarily announce it to everyone.
  Especially to your boss. It will not mean you get to go home earlier, it will result in more work being assigned to you.
4. Re: Or perhaps not. by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 01:49 · Score: 0
  
  Exactly this. Doctors, lawyers, etc are smart enough to have associations and promote laws that help keep them in business and help them keep control of their business.
  Us? We're stupid enough to think this whole 'automate everything' craze is going to end well.
5. Re: Or perhaps not. by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 02:54 · Score: 0
  
  Or, you can do like one co-worker I had. Write your scripts in different language-of-the-week and compile them into executables, no matter how trivial the script. Once you've gotten them into production, make sure the source code gets "lost".
6. Re:Or perhaps not. by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 03:46 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  I'm with Damon on this one. That effort being provincial and guarded is better spent learning. Let junior staff take over the work, there is always more interesting and challenging work to be had. This is better for both the employee's career and the employer's business. I've done that for 25 years and quite happy with what I'm doing now.
  Ironically, it's a moot point. Automating work doesn't make a job unnecessary. Automation usually fails. If it's too sophisticated to fail, it's too brittle and needs an expert to fix it when the system needs changing, and it makes the whole system rigid. If it's simple, it fails occasionally. So either way the expertise is still required to be on hand.
  What automation does is free up time.
7. Re: Or perhaps not. by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 04:13 · Score: 0
  
  > Use what lawyers and accountants call "efficiency" billing. The first time they fill out a form it might take an hour or four to figure it out. That price is how much it costs, even if it only takes two minutes to fill it out again via template and esig.
  Sounds like fraud to me.
8. Re:Or perhaps not. by aqui · 2018-01-01 04:30 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Its time to stop treating systems like pets, rather treat them like cattle. This is what's needed to manage growth / and scale without more staff. A cornerstone of this is automation. Its just the next skill set for admins to build out. Automation is part of commoditization and standardization, the next steps in the evolution of a service or product.
  The assumption that automation requires less staff is only valid if nothing is changing. The reality is that IT use is growing rapidly, where I work the number of applications and servers we're managing has more than doubled in less than 5 years. Most of the servers are now virtual and the only reason we've
  If you're scared of automation, then your current job description is probably so simple that it will be automated, or you don't understand automation.
  At that point you have two choices:
  1) Wait until someone else automates things without you or outsources it to a company that has already built and automation library / skills and lose your job.
  or
  2) Become the local automation expert. Or if not local be ready for a job market that will be asking for admins with automation skills.
  The reality is autiomation will happen with or without you, the business case for it is there. For the windows admins: Powershell is here to stay and if you don't learn it someone else will. Beyond that automated deployment, or even self provisioning are quickly becoming the norm.
  I'm currently working on 2). When you start to look at automation you'll find that:
  (a) automation isn't trivial and requires lots of set up work and maintenance when done right...
  (b) when not done right it just scales up the screw ups... (aka wrong command as a domain admin with two broad a target)... Just ask the guy that formated all machines on campus ( https://it.slashdot.org/story/... )
  (b) over time it frees you from the mundane tasks to actually start tackling real IT issues in the organization, and get to the projects you never had time for before.
  (c) it scales, it improves your productivity, and it makes you harder to replace, not easier.
  Automation will happen with or without you. The cool thing is that there are tools out there that once you learn them enable your productivity as an admin to offer better quality service, and shift from reactive to proactive management off your environment.
  
  --
  ----- "Profanity is the one language that all programmers understand."
9. Re:Or perhaps not. by 0100010001010011 · 2018-01-01 04:35 · Score: 2
  
  If you don't do it someone else will.
  And when the axe comes swinging that person will keep the job because they're the one that 'knows the system'.
  Additionally how do you continue to work on the same thing year after year without getting bored? Automate my workflow, volunteer to take on additional work. Take on additional work. Rinse and repeat.
10. Re: Or perhaps not. by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 05:55 · Score: 0
  
  car mechanics bill their work from a large collection of diagnosis and procedure codes. Those codes standardize the billing, set at the shop billing rate.
  the mechanic doing the work has incentives to do more codes per day to increase "productivity". hopefully this means more working smarter, than harder... but not really. they are penalized by not getting credited for rework, at the very least, or taking longer than the allocated time per code. it is very close to being piecework, for the mechanics and service writers.
  the mechanics do see the shop billing rate go up faster than their wages do... and notice that their time windows for getting tasks done gradually smaller...
11. Re:Or perhaps not. by lucasnate1 · 2018-01-01 06:19 · Score: 1
  
  1) The person paying you appreciates that you aren't trying to lock them in.
  If the company is big enough, the person paying you doesn't see as human, but as another machine in the process.
  
  --
  Avantgarde Hebrew science fiction
12. Re:Or perhaps not. by DamonHD · 2018-01-01 07:38 · Score: 1
  
  If that is the case then you should change manager or company, not dig deeper into the one you're in.
  Rgds
  Damon
  
  --
  http://m.earth.org.uk/
13. Re:Or perhaps not. by iggymanz · 2018-01-01 07:47 · Score: 1
  
  you vastly overestimate most employers, IT are slaves and treated as such
14. Re:Or perhaps not. by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 07:49 · Score: 0, Interesting
  
  ... For the windows admins: Powershell is here to stay and if you don't learn it someone else will.
  PowerSmell is not really a scripting language. It is a limited (very limited) and slow .NET "hook" and it is very limited in what it can do, and it does it more slowly that you could do it yourself manually. Plus it has a command-set and API that changes from day to day. It should be abolished. If you want to hook into .NET (for some unknown reason) then you can do so without PowerSmell.
  PowerSmell just smells bad and was designed by a brain-damaged twit (as in hangs out on Twitter, the place where you find the highest concentration of Twit's). It is illogical and brain-damaged.
15. Re: Or perhaps not. by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 08:50 · Score: 0
  
  Why? You think I give my knowledge away for free?
  Using hammer to tap spot: $1
  Knowing which spot to tap: $999
  Total: $1000
16. Re:Or perhaps not. by lucasnate1 · 2018-01-01 10:48 · Score: 1
  
  To me it is possible, and indeed I only work at startups. To people above 50, it can be more difficult.
  
  --
  Avantgarde Hebrew science fiction
17. Re: Or perhaps not. by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 12:52 · Score: 0
  
  Unfortunately you lack both skill and IQ to even comprehend that automation is a way to keep your job. Which means YOUR job will be next shipping to far away lands.
18. Re: Or perhaps not. by yes-but-no · 2018-01-01 17:29 · Score: 1
  
  It's more likely your (greedy) boss won't appreciate your scripts. So you automate but don't show your boss. The time you save, you put on your own growth (personal skills that are portable, that comes with you when your employer hands the pink slip). eg study finance, investment, hobbies; If your boss is tracking you, do it in the mind. Think/meditate. At the end, only you help yourself.
19. Re:Or perhaps not. by sad_ · 2018-01-02 01:32 · Score: 1
  
  I'm sure there is tons and tons of other stuff waiting to be solved/improved/implemented that you finally get some time to do because all the other things are automated.
  
  --
  On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
Automate less, learn less languages by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 23:30 · Score: 0

Automation just means the work you're doing is meaningless.
1. Re: Automate less, learn less languages by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 12:54 · Score: 0
  
  You are paid to automate stuff. Get that.
Net Neutrality is really about video streaming by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 23:37 · Score: 0

For landlines, the 'Net Neutrality' debate is really about the data guzzling video streaming websites, such as Netflix. Low data websites, such as craigslist, are not going to be affected by 'Net Neutrality'.
1. Re:Net Neutrality is really about video streaming by HermMunster · 2018-01-01 04:07 · Score: 1
  
  It is about making all bits equal regardless of the source without any policy or practice being allowed that would allow that to be interfered with by anyone for any purpose.
  
  --
  You can lead a man with reason but you can't make him think.
2. Re: Net Neutrality is really about video streaming by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 10:08 · Score: 0
  
  Oh that's cool. So your Netflix binging could keep me from calling 911 on wifi calling?
Did you have to bring up Y2K v2? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-31 23:52 · Score: 0

It was a nothingburger once and it is a nothingburger twice. Keep calm! and Carry on!
or learn a human language by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 01:39 · Score: 0

In most parts of the world this is probably much more useful especially in the long run.
new language? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 01:41 · Score: 0

Just for the sake of learning a new one? If you are young and have spare time, do that, I am old. Cut the beard recently but I am still very old. I learn when I have to. Learning for fun is long gone. The waves of garbage that come our way and require learning are appalling enough. I do the jogging to exercise. Doing IT is just ugly, mostly boring and for sure stressing. We have now only old macho nonsense but there is als #metoo to watch out (never get into the lift with a female alone!) but also James Damore experience to learn from. Seems I learned a lot in 2017 and will have to 2018 too. These are not languages that I do learn however although in a sense they are : doublespeak we have to learn or to risk infamy and/or being fired. Happy new year 2018!!!
smells of devops... by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 01:45 · Score: 0

And their "servers are cattle" cloudcookoolander mentality...
clockpocalypse by JohnVanVliet · 2018-01-01 02:35 · Score: 1

if we ( linux users ) are using 32 bit OS's in 20 years WE DESERVE it
the only 32 bit os i have is on a very old box from 2001 - that is on itt's last legs

--
"I don't pitch OpenSUSE Linux to my friends, i let Microsoft do it for me
1. Re:clockpocalypse by iggymanz · 2018-01-01 07:45 · Score: 1
  
  har har har, for my employer I have to run some windows programs, and the standard image is 32 bit windows 7 that I run in a VM
  you can bet 32 bit OS are alive and well at your banks, insurance companies, etc.
2. Re:clockpocalypse by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 08:35 · Score: 0
  
  It's only a System/360, but I like it.
3. Re:clockpocalypse by iggymanz · 2018-01-01 10:17 · Score: 1
  
  the 360 could access 64 bit double words. And with an add-on for scientific calcs could do 128 bit floats
4. Re:clockpocalypse by ebvwfbw · 2018-01-02 15:21 · Score: 1
  
  They fixed it many years ago. I have a feeling he doesn't know what he's talking about. I know, hard to believe on /.
How dare by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 02:56 · Score: 0

You classify a bash scripting wizard with title of 'admin'.
You're overload that let's you live would end better.
1. Re:How dare by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 05:59 · Score: 0
  
  parse error in line 2.
zsh by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 02:57 · Score: 0

I've been able to automate everything I need with the z shell. Why would I waste the time I saved to learn something like Python?
Re:My New Year's Resolutions by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 04:53 · Score: 0

9) Kill myself
OK by PPH · 2018-01-01 05:31 · Score: 1

I piped incoming user help messages to the emacs psychiatrist.
- BOFH.

--
Have gnu, will travel.
1. Re:OK by iggymanz · 2018-01-01 07:42 · Score: 1
  
  the (l)users at my company find Eliza more engaging
Ha-ha by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 07:06 · Score: 0

I've tripled my net income since ditching *nix for Windows. Some day we all die, try to do that with some coin in your pockets, fools.
1. Re:Ha-ha by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-02 07:10 · Score: 0
  
  Funny - I've quite literally tripled mine by ditching Windows for *nix. I've also found it a lot more fun having control over of the product I'm managing, rather than the reverse.
"new" languages? pfffft... by iggymanz · 2018-01-01 07:49 · Score: 1

Python is from 1989, Ruby 1995.
if someone wants to learn a new language there are others like Rust, Go....though those might just be fads
Happy New Year 2018 to you too &? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 08:16 · Score: 0

I improved my program today! 67% faster in slowest part filtering vs. false positives APK Hosts File Engine 10++ 32/64-bit https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=%22APK+Hosts+File+Engine%22+and+%22start64%22&btnG=Google+Search&gbv=1/
* I'm NOT DONE yet! As Howard Hughes said in "the Aviator"? "She'll go faster!"
Though largely unneeded for most (on HUGE datasets that most folks will NEVER get for @ least 10++ yrs. as it took me)?
I have 1/2 code written for 100 part breakup & process onto threads for each part (will do even more for speed & as is, its results are perfect).
APK
P.S.=> It's about Applying yourself https://entertainment.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=11548821&threshold=-1&commentsort=0&mode=thread&pid=55839663/ ala "Dr. 'StRaNgE'" film based on tales I read on as a boy (very inspirational & about personal change (especially for the 'pay it forward' good of others))... apk
Re:"new" languages? pfffft... by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 08:47 · Score: 0

As in learning something new to the person learning it. Not a recently created language. Now go back to eating your toenails you assburger.
Re:"new" languages? pfffft... by iggymanz · 2018-01-01 08:50 · Score: 1

the point is sysadmins been using those for years
now call upstairs and have your mother order you some pizza so you can calm down
Partially sound advice. by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 11:55 · Score: 0

Automate yes.
New language, probably a bad idea.
Further more it suggests you are probably deficient in the knowledge of existing languages you know already.
Do you really need perl or do you simply lack the knowledge to do it in bash, something you already know and use, but have never taken the time to investigate it more?
You know, bash hasn't been standing still you know in the past decade.
Re:My New Year's Resolutions by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 13:16 · Score: 0

1) Teach others that Russia is the enemy
2) Teach others that Islam is the enemy
3) Teach others that the blacks are the enemy
4) Teach others that the Jews are the enemy
5) Teach others that the Chinese are the enemy
6) Teach others that Hispanics are the enemy
7) Teach others that President Trump is inept at addressing these threats and that the military must act for him
8) Start a movement to have the United States military exterminate the aforementioned enemies
Err you forgot:
0) Teach others that "Religion" is the enemy. (A right under the US First Amendment)
That way you don't have to put in "Christianity", "Jewdism", "Islam", ... etc is the enemy.
As for anything else you come across as a Bigot?
Re:"new" languages? pfffft... by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2018-01-01 16:28 · Score: 1

Python is from 1989, Ruby 1995.
All right then, I'm gonna learn COBOL!

--
#DeleteChrome
Systemd by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-01 21:21 · Score: 0

I have only two new year resolutions for Linux:
1. The demise of Lennart Poettering
2. The disappearance of systemd
How about... by zifn4b · 2018-01-02 01:06 · Score: 1

...just learn how to do your job adequately? The Linux Administrator team at my work are largely a bunch of bullshit artists hacking through the forest.

--
We'll make great pets
Re:"new" languages? pfffft... by zifn4b · 2018-01-02 01:07 · Score: 1

Python is from 1989, Ruby 1995.
if someone wants to learn a new language there are others like Rust, Go....though those might just be fads
bash scripting + curl only gets you so far with REST...

--
We'll make great pets
what is this? by sad_ · 2018-01-02 01:31 · Score: 1

Just a list of what it means to be a sys admin.
If you don't already do these things, you suck at your job.

--
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
nothing new there by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-02 02:17 · Score: 0

if automating your boring tasks and learning a new language needs to be in your new years resolutions you simply in the wrong business and should step away from the keyboard
Re:Respect my freedom by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-02 04:28 · Score: 0

You should have a resolution to respect my freedom. I don't like white people, and that's my right. They can't be trusted. After all, white people were responsible for Columbine, Las Vegas, Sandy Hook, etc etc etc, and they continue to want to kill us. It's my right to dislike white people, and you have no business labeling me a racist for this. Respect my freedoms of thought and speech. Accept that I dislike white people and let me speak without labeling me or attacking my character.
Re:Respect my freedom by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-02 05:06 · Score: 0

"I Hate White People," by Tyrone Green
I hate the sunlight and I hate the night
I hate white people 'cause they is white
Their hair is wavy, their lips is thin
But worse than white women, I hate white men
Walking around with briefcase and money
Bust they head open, my ain't that funny?
Not out of anger and not out of spite
I just hate whitey because they is white
W-I-T-E people
Games don't interoperate by tepples · 2018-01-03 06:19 · Score: 1

Granted, not as many
There's the rub. If the particular titles that your friends desire to play with you are unsupported, then Linux has no important games. Unlike non-game applications, most* games don't implement a common protocol to interoperate with other games by other publishers.
* The exception is computer ports of pre-1923 tabletop games, such as GNU XBoard that interoperates with other Chess software that speaks CECP 2.
Exceeding 2 GB requires SDHC booting by tepples · 2018-01-03 06:30 · Score: 1

Why is too complicated to fit a Linux's LiveDVD to 4.7GB DVD instead of 2 GB?
Because the wire protocol used by Secure Digital (SD) flash memory cards changed between 2 GB cards and Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) cards, which are 4 GB or larger. I imagine that the implementation of BIOS or UEFI on some PCs can boot from a 2 GB card but not from an SDHC card.
Re:"new" languages? pfffft... by mnemotronic · 2018-01-03 10:10 · Score: 1

Python is from 1989, Ruby 1995.
if someone wants to learn a new language there are others like Rust, Go....though those might just be fads
I'm trying both those. While Golang is pretty easy, Rust is hurting my brain. The first few demo programs in Programming Rust leave (for me) a lot of questions. Those demos also have a high "punctuation character to alphabetical character" ratio. Or perhaps it's a low "alpha to punctuation" ratio. Admittedly that isn't a standard measurement and I'd never noticed it before, but man, there's a butt-load of colons in there.

--
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
Addendum: This IS my New Year's resolution by Anonymous Coward · 2018-01-03 10:39 · Score: 0

"Thru the mystic arts we harness energy & shape reality - We travel great distances in an instant"
* Making the web FASTER
"The Avengers protect the world from physical dangers - we safeguard it against more mystical threats"
* Making the web SAFER
(vs. inefficient remote DNS/Antivirus (riddled w/ security issues) or browser addons (sold out to not work by default ala adblock) for more security/speed/reliability via what you have natively vs. illogically "Bolting on 'MoAr'" w/ hosts doing more for less)
APK
P.S.=> "How do I get from here to there?"
APK Hosts File Engine 10++ SR-1 32/64-bit https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=%22APK+Hosts+File+Engine%22+and+%22start64%22&btnG=Google+Search&gbv=1/
ALL quotes from https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kNdM7b1Lm04#t=31/ for the "FULL EFFECT", lol... apk
Sysadmin automation is not reliable by loufoque · 2018-01-04 01:20 · Score: 1

Let actual developers do it