[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: sysadmin qualifications (Re: apt-get vs. aptitude)



On Fri 11 Oct 2013 at 13:24:28 +0100, Jonathan Dowland wrote:

> Getting a printer to work in Linux or a weekly rsync to a USB HDD
> do not make you a sysadmin any more than managing your current
> (checking in en_US afaik) makes you an accountant.

Eh?

A parent who spends many hours attending to her child's needs when she
is ill is not a nurse.

A person who replaces a blown fuse in a plug to get the TV working again
is not an electrician.

Guiding a person through the intricacies of a foreign language does not
make you a linguist.

Someone who expresses a view on a current situation in the news is not a
politician.

Cooking a splendid meal for four doesn't make you a chef.

Are there any more lables we can attach to people?

In the Debian context, anyone using apt-get is a sysadmin, A mere user
gets:

   brian@desktop:~$ apt-get update
   E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/apt/lists/lock - open (13:
   Permission denied)
   E: Unable to lock directory /var/lib/apt/lists/
   E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (13: Permission
   denied)
   E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), are you
   root?

"are you root?" is the clue. If you are able to  be root , you are a
sysadmin.  Maybe not a very good one, but, if you want the
responsibility, it is yours; all of it - not just the little bit the OP
may have implied by his throwaway remark.

Of course, we all know a sysadmin role can only be filled by a very
special person.


Reply to: