On Oct 2, 2004, at 11:50 PM, Dave Vollenweider wrote:
This has nothing to do with technical problems, but rather it's more of a request for moral support. This may seem disjointed, so bear with me.
Alt.sysadmin.recovery? :-)
I've been using FreeBSD for over six months now, but I've been using Unix-like operating systems for almost two years. I started with Red Hat Linux back when Red Hat was making and selling their "consumer-grade" version of Red Hat Linux, then switched to Debian before going to FreeBSD last March. I now also run NetBSD on one of my machines.
Sounds like the path many administrators start out on :-)
Through all this, I've developed a passion for this type of OS, seeing the elegance, performance, and sheer power of Unix. This has affected me to the point of me changing my career path. Before I got into these OSs, I wanted to get into radio. Now I'd rather either be a system administrator or run my own consulting business for entities that use these types of OSs. But herein lies the problem I've been having lately: while searching around for what I'd need to know to become a system administrator, I came across this page: http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/8/13/131727/462 and I'm overwhelmed by the sheer amount of knowledge I'd have to gain.
It's a good overview, but man oh man...you can't memorize all of that. Worse, things change over time. The "Linux way" to accomplish something changes depending on the distro, the release version,...
the important thing is that you can *look it up* and are able to understand the fundamentals. You may not know precisely how to sit down and get that new printer to print first time through and have it going in ten minutes, but you should be familiar enough to know that it may have something to do with configuring LPR and/or SMB sharing or CUPS to not be scratching your head over what to look for next. You should be able to google with decent search terms and be able to follow howtos.
The stuff from the courses are pretty specific. Good to know, yes. Only thing to know? NO. You need to be flexible because in two years that test will be outdated and not of extreme use when you're trying to figure out how to install apache on FreeBSD properly...they don't have ports on Red Hat :-) (heresy, I know, old schoolers are chanting *install from source! install from source!* and everyone should have had to try that at some point in their learning process...)
Also, there's sub niches in learning system administration. You can't be a great jack of all trades, but you can be familiar with the areas and be really good at one or two. I hate hardware. I can make Cat5 patches, but I don't enjoy it. I know people that would love to spend all their time punching drops and if put in support would rather punch users. Some people spend more time getting adept at diagnosing network problems, or setting up servers and maintaining them. Some people get stuck in niches and never adapt or grow (ever find people who think Netware is the ultimate server OS for everything under the sun? Could you at least consider that maybe a small Linux machine could have handled that without the cost??). Some people truly enjoy helping users with training or minor tech support, like a lab support person.
That list is daunting. Find what you like. After setting up five or six machines, you get exposed to that stuff in due time. If you're a fast learner and good at googling for information, it'll all be okay :-)
It took me almost two years to get to where I am today, and it looks like I've barely scratched the surface of what I'd need to know. But now, I feel like instead of learning things on my own for fun, I have to learn other things I don't really have a need to learn for myself or that I want to, just so that I can apply that to oth
er peoples' situations.
Um...yeah. That happens. Surest way to kill a passion is to make it a job :-)
Just make sure the benefits outweigh the hassles. You'll hang in there. You'll have to learn a lot of gotcha's along the way, that's just the way life is. Especially in technology.
The result is that lately learning these OSs has become more of a chore than a fun hobby, and I'm still intimidated by what I need to learn to get to where I want to go. It almost seems like it's not worth it.
That's a decision only you can make. You know, you don't need to stay in one profession your whole life. Why not combine radio with technology? Start a radio show about technology. Work as a consultant for stations. Start an Internet radio show like Radio Tiki did.
Most departments in businesses aren't just one person. If you start a consultation business, take in employees or a partner. Or if you go into "the real world", there's usually other people working with you. You have to have a support system for learning, and in my experience, two people can easily complement each other in skills. That's why they hire other people...there's gaps that need filling in manpower or sheer "what the hell is causing this??" head scratchers.
Now, being that I know there are some very experienced people on this list, I'm betting that I'm not the only one that has experienced this, that learning new things in Unix-like OSs becomes more of a chore than something to do for fun. My question is, what advice would you have for dealing with this?
What, that there's a lot to learn? Dude, it ain't gonna stop. If you enjoy figuring out the puzzles, you can keep up. You'll find a niche (or for consulting businesses, you MAKE your niche and people come to you). Computer paradigms have been changing and continue to change. Get experience, get exposure to new ideas, keep up in lists and enlist the aide of others, and work on your *researching* skills. Every day I'm hitting google for some oddball support question thrown my way and I'm poring over lists and support boards because of some Windows quirk or some new log entry that looks suspicious.
If you dealing with the stress...well...burning out has some benefits too if your company has good medical compensation.
-Bart
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