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