Just say no and hope that it sticks. Seriously. I find that so many people in the workforce noadays don't know how to say that simple word. No.
Sometimes its hard to make a case for it if management at your company thinks that you are being unreasonable. However if you are a reasonable person and skilled in your profession, management should trust you to do your job. I'm of the opinion that if management can't trust employees in their area of expertise and to give good advice, then it is not a good place to work. My first tech job became this way, the new management that came along had a distrust of us and it made everything sour. Anyways, that's getting away from your question.
But being a sysadmin, I think you have to stand up for your opinion when the time is right to do so. People who aren't in the know always have requests like this to grant more access, make things easier, keep the customer's demands first. Its your job to draw a line in the sand that says you can't go past that point. Some people don't like that, but honestly it doesn't matter. Rules are there for a reason. They are guides to providing good service for all customers, not just one.
Here is what I can see happening. Its kinda grim, but its probably reality. I base this opinion on looking at other technologies like the telephone, radio and TV and seeing what has happened to the technicians in those fields.
When the technology is first new, you have the pioneers and the first maintainers who are paid a lot because the field is new and is in such a state of flux, it that you need the best and brightest people if you hope to hold you own in the industry. Eventually that field becomes more solid, easier to learn and there is a generation or two before you that are there for backup. Soon, management doesn't see the point of paying a lot (and probably rightfully so) to those technicians and everybody's mom and dad is capable of doing it. Its not something that you have to grow up knowing like a lot of us did, its something you can pick up out of high school. Its been said that being a system administrator is more of a lifestyle than a profession, but I think that will eventually change. Its unfortunate but I think we have to think about the future since a lot of us are young and will need to think about what will happen to the profession in our working lifetime. Programmers will probably be less commonitized to a degree, but still the value of the role will decrease a bit because software.
I think to some degree, this has already all happened if you compare the 90s and before with this decade. I hope I'm wrong about this though. The thing that really keeps us all going though is that the computer industry keeps reinventing itself with every new groundbreaking technology. I wrote about this before in a comment.
Ok, you know what. I doubt there is any convincing you because like so many other people, you've already made up your mind based on what you've heard.
So don't use the word intuitive then because its probably the wrong word to use when talking about 3d software. Let's say this instead, once you've really spent some time learning Blender's interface, you will start to think that a lot of other 3d user interfaces have it wrong. At least I did. I used Imagine for years and I thought Imagine made a lot of sense, but after using Blender for 3 months and actually spending time to learn it, I'm so much faster at creating objects in Blender than I ever was in Imagine.
I think what has happened, is that the myth that it is hard to use has preceded the application. Blender is not the only software with this problem.
First of all, I realize that this e-mail was not necessarily about the interface, but I'm going to prelude these comments with a comment about them anyways.
This is a message directed towards all people who are not familiar with 3d applications. Most 3d applications have historically had interfaces that deviate from the standard application interface. Get over it.
As someone who has been toying with various 3d applications since 1990 and having taken some time to learn Blender recently I can say this. Blender's interface is actually quite intuitive and effcient.
Thanks for the response and its great to read your input on this.
What I'm saying in my post though is that from my point of view and I think from others my age (32), is that you're more likely to hear just about computers from before the 70s rather than the software they ran. I'm sure you have a different viewpoint because you actually experienced that era. But I didn't and all I have to go on is what is written in books and on the net.
I'm glad that there isn't a complete disconnect between the generations here.;-)
Actually there is a simple explanation for this. Computers have become comoditized more and more. But the first computers and programs where created for the most important things in the world that needed them. And because they run such important things (Nuclear Power plants, Air Traffic Control Code, Banks, institutions, etc.), the managers and agencies that are in charge of them keep an attitude of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Or at least nobody wants to tackle that problem.
When that code was created, you probably had to be at the top of your game in order to create such software. But nowadays, any Tom, Dick or Jane can be a programmer, but those aren't necessarily the people that you'd want to have rewriting cuclear power plant control software. And having been a programmer professionally and a system administrator for a while, I think that the people who are capable, don't want to bother with it because there isn't much glory for it.
But what will happen when it all fails and nobody knows how to fix it or the fix is incorrect? (See, STTNG: When the Bough Breaks).
You are not presenting any real evidence that it is the case. You are just saying this because it sounds likely to be true, but do you have any hard evidence to back it up?
Unfortunately, it looks like people aren't going to take this question seriously.
Interesting, a quick search on Google reveals that there isn't much on this topic other than people talking about the oldest computer they have. One post talks about some old IBM Series 1's and S/360/30. One good one is to say the computers onboard some of the oldest spacecrafts like Pioneer 10 (1972), Voyager I and II (1977). Although they haven't received anything from Pioneer 10 since 2002. But you could say that the computer in it might still be running.
Somehow I doubt that many of the people that would be running such old computers such as ones from before 1970 would be reading Slashdot. And if you think about it, people conceptulized computers differently back then. I think you'd be hard pressed to find mention of a specific program but more of mention of a computer itself. Its too bad there is such a big disconnect between the generations of computer programmers and administrators.
That's not how many are used, that's how many are left. Although no, not everyone has their own IP. Out of the 4 billion possible IP addresses, only about 3 billion or so could be used, so there is about a 1 to 2 ratio of ips to people.
The two counters just crossed over each other about 10 minutes ago (2:42:36pm EDT). I estimate that the population counter will reach 6 repeating at approximately 11:30pm EDT.
I store my password at mydomain.com/password.txt so I can just copy/paste when I'm remote. I'm guessing that he is joking. Anyone stupid enough to do this should be fired and shot.
While it might not be high on the scale, earthquakes from southern Illinois typically have a much wider effect than those in California. Its not uncommon for quakes here to be felt over 1000 miles away. The New Madrid Quake of 1812 was supposibly felt over 1 million square miles while the San Francisco 1906 quake was only felt over 6000 square miles. See this image
has discovered that Sagittarius A* let loose a powerful flare three centuries before the time at which we are observing it (i.e., 26,000 years in the past)
That's a bit of a confusing sentence but I think I understand. What they really meant to say is that if Sagittarius A's flare produces a 26,000 Hz tone, it will interfere with GT&T's subspace carrier signal and allow you to send free messages to the gamma quadrant.
This is nothing new. The first piece of music hardware/software I saw that did this was called Vivace or something like that and it came out back in 1994. There are also other programs in the past and present that do this.
Good job slashdot, I think you successfully managed to show that reality is stranger than fiction by holding back on the fake articles this year. And you've thoroughly confused everyone.
Slashdot Mirror
Just say no and hope that it sticks. Seriously. I find that so many people in the workforce noadays don't know how to say that simple word. No.
Sometimes its hard to make a case for it if management at your company thinks that you are being unreasonable. However if you are a reasonable person and skilled in your profession, management should trust you to do your job. I'm of the opinion that if management can't trust employees in their area of expertise and to give good advice, then it is not a good place to work. My first tech job became this way, the new management that came along had a distrust of us and it made everything sour. Anyways, that's getting away from your question.
But being a sysadmin, I think you have to stand up for your opinion when the time is right to do so. People who aren't in the know always have requests like this to grant more access, make things easier, keep the customer's demands first. Its your job to draw a line in the sand that says you can't go past that point. Some people don't like that, but honestly it doesn't matter. Rules are there for a reason. They are guides to providing good service for all customers, not just one.
There it is, where I talk about how the computer industry reinvents itself every 10 years or so to adapt to new environments.
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=371825&cid=21492415
Here is what I can see happening. Its kinda grim, but its probably reality. I base this opinion on looking at other technologies like the telephone, radio and TV and seeing what has happened to the technicians in those fields.
When the technology is first new, you have the pioneers and the first maintainers who are paid a lot because the field is new and is in such a state of flux, it that you need the best and brightest people if you hope to hold you own in the industry. Eventually that field becomes more solid, easier to learn and there is a generation or two before you that are there for backup. Soon, management doesn't see the point of paying a lot (and probably rightfully so) to those technicians and everybody's mom and dad is capable of doing it. Its not something that you have to grow up knowing like a lot of us did, its something you can pick up out of high school. Its been said that being a system administrator is more of a lifestyle than a profession, but I think that will eventually change. Its unfortunate but I think we have to think about the future since a lot of us are young and will need to think about what will happen to the profession in our working lifetime. Programmers will probably be less commonitized to a degree, but still the value of the role will decrease a bit because software.
I think to some degree, this has already all happened if you compare the 90s and before with this decade. I hope I'm wrong about this though. The thing that really keeps us all going though is that the computer industry keeps reinventing itself with every new groundbreaking technology. I wrote about this before in a comment.
Ok, you know what. I doubt there is any convincing you because like so many other people, you've already made up your mind based on what you've heard.
So don't use the word intuitive then because its probably the wrong word to use when talking about 3d software. Let's say this instead, once you've really spent some time learning Blender's interface, you will start to think that a lot of other 3d user interfaces have it wrong. At least I did. I used Imagine for years and I thought Imagine made a lot of sense, but after using Blender for 3 months and actually spending time to learn it, I'm so much faster at creating objects in Blender than I ever was in Imagine.
I think what has happened, is that the myth that it is hard to use has preceded the application. Blender is not the only software with this problem.
First of all, I realize that this e-mail was not necessarily about the interface, but I'm going to prelude these comments with a comment about them anyways.
This is a message directed towards all people who are not familiar with 3d applications. Most 3d applications have historically had interfaces that deviate from the standard application interface. Get over it.
As someone who has been toying with various 3d applications since 1990 and having taken some time to learn Blender recently I can say this. Blender's interface is actually quite intuitive and effcient.
Consul, not sure what your e-mail address is, but I wanted to let you know that I started a page for this topic on my wiki:
http://suso.suso.org/xulu/The_oldest_computer_program_still_in_use
I thought it deserved a home and it was interesting to me too. Feel free to add to it.
Thanks for the response and its great to read your input on this.
;-)
What I'm saying in my post though is that from my point of view and I think from others my age (32), is that you're more likely to hear just about computers from before the 70s rather than the software they ran. I'm sure you have a different viewpoint because you actually experienced that era. But I didn't and all I have to go on is what is written in books and on the net.
I'm glad that there isn't a complete disconnect between the generations here.
Actually there is a simple explanation for this. Computers have become comoditized more and more. But the first computers and programs where created for the most important things in the world that needed them. And because they run such important things (Nuclear Power plants, Air Traffic Control Code, Banks, institutions, etc.), the managers and agencies that are in charge of them keep an attitude of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Or at least nobody wants to tackle that problem.
When that code was created, you probably had to be at the top of your game in order to create such software. But nowadays, any Tom, Dick or Jane can be a programmer, but those aren't necessarily the people that you'd want to have rewriting cuclear power plant control software. And having been a programmer professionally and a system administrator for a while, I think that the people who are capable, don't want to bother with it because there isn't much glory for it.
But what will happen when it all fails and nobody knows how to fix it or the fix is incorrect? (See, STTNG: When the Bough Breaks).
FYI: The oldest nuclear plant still in operation began operation in 1969 (Oyster Creek, NJ).
You are not presenting any real evidence that it is the case. You are just saying this because it sounds likely to be true, but do you have any hard evidence to back it up?
Unfortunately, it looks like people aren't going to take this question seriously.
Interesting, a quick search on Google reveals that there isn't much on this topic other than people talking about the oldest computer they have. One post talks about some old IBM Series 1's and S/360/30. One good one is to say the computers onboard some of the oldest spacecrafts like Pioneer 10 (1972), Voyager I and II (1977). Although they haven't received anything from Pioneer 10 since 2002. But you could say that the computer in it might still be running.
Somehow I doubt that many of the people that would be running such old computers such as ones from before 1970 would be reading Slashdot. And if you think about it, people conceptulized computers differently back then. I think you'd be hard pressed to find mention of a specific program but more of mention of a computer itself. Its too bad there is such a big disconnect between the generations of computer programmers and administrators.
It is an effort to stop Linux dominating this market
Whoa, we're dominating a desktop market? That's awesome!
Sometimes, when you turn around and look at the path that FLOSS has made over the past two decades, you just have to be proud. Way to go everyone!
I think some of these people doing this review are a bit spoiled. They are used to their private cubicals, posh offices, etc.
At least most of the people in these environments have new workstations, a monitor or two and some deskspace.
The don't show the tech business running out of a cockroach infested hotel room with 10 year old computers using dial up to connect to the net.
That's not how many are used, that's how many are left. Although no, not everyone has their own IP. Out of the 4 billion possible IP addresses, only about 3 billion or so could be used, so there is about a 1 to 2 ratio of ips to people.
The two counters just crossed over each other about 10 minutes ago (2:42:36pm EDT). I estimate that the population counter will reach 6 repeating at approximately 11:30pm EDT.
You don't have to try it figure it out. God just creates it. No scientific explaination needed. Now wasn't that easy.
This problem doesn't mean opening the code for the player, but still, it will help projects like Gnash, etc.
At first, I was thinking there was a wider internet outage because Google was having problems this morning and so was MSN.. But I guess not.
If you look at this website it shows that there is some issue between SBC and Cogent.
is it? Why the fuss? Was it not 5.2?
While it might not be high on the scale, earthquakes from southern Illinois typically have a much wider effect than those in California. Its not uncommon for quakes here to be felt over 1000 miles away. The New Madrid Quake of 1812 was supposibly felt over 1 million square miles while the San Francisco 1906 quake was only felt over 6000 square miles. See this image
Apparently this is the largest one in the Midwest since the magnitude 5.4 one in 1968 that was also in Southern Illinois.
has discovered that Sagittarius A* let loose a powerful flare three centuries before the time at which we are observing it (i.e., 26,000 years in the past)
That's a bit of a confusing sentence but I think I understand. What they really meant to say is that if Sagittarius A's flare produces a 26,000 Hz tone, it
will interfere with GT&T's subspace carrier signal and allow you to send free messages to the gamma quadrant.
Neither do you. So why are you looking at the pictures of their house? Don't you have respect? If not, then why do you expect a company too?
This is nothing new. The first piece of music hardware/software I saw that did this was called Vivace or something like that and it came out back in 1994. There are also other programs in the past and present that do this.
Good job slashdot, I think you successfully managed to show that reality is stranger than fiction by holding back on the fake articles this year. And you've thoroughly confused everyone.