Stuart Jansen wrote: > System administration is an odd beast. Until you've been in the > trenches, you probably won't understand it. The stereotypical sysadmin > has a reputation for being grumpy. There's a reason.
Ah, choice words. I couldn't agree more. In fact, I would like to include portions of your message in my internal support blog and on my personal blog. May I? You provided some great examples that I haven't experienced. But my initial support experiences resonate with your message and I want to express that. There is a natural tension between admin and user, support and programmer. Sadly, it often manifests in antagonistic relationships, back-biting, distrust and accusations of laziness or irresponsibility. I'm trying to avoid that through transparency, clear communication and frank discussion of my competing responsibilities (service, end user, and developmental support). Ironically, my developer responsibilities undermine (change) my support responsibilities every day. I can be excellent at one or the other, but not both simultaneously. But this is drifting off-topic. -- JeffreyD -------------------- BYU Unix Users Group http://uug.byu.edu/ The opinions expressed in this message are the responsibility of their author. They are not endorsed by BYU, the BYU CS Department or BYU-UUG. ___________________________________________________________________ List Info (unsubscribe here): http://uug.byu.edu/mailman/listinfo/uug-list
