Unix horror stories

[Bill Sconce]

On Tue, 29 Aug 2006 08:51:07 -0400
"Tom Buskey" <tom at buskey.name> wrote:

> On 8/28/06, Ben Scott <dragonhawk at gmail.com> wrote:
>>  I read this once, ages ago, and just came across it again.  Good
>>  stuff.  Not only entertaining, but educational.  I learned a lot from
>>  reading it.
>>     http://www.ima.umn.edu/~ewing/horror.txt

Tom> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_UNIX-HATERS_Handbook is also worth looking
Tom> at.  I have the paperback somewhere on the shelf at home.


I have the paperback too, and treasure it.  When I teach "Intro To Linux"
it's a great thing to wave around.  (Keeps the teacher from being oblivious
to the fact that no software is perfect, heh, heh.)  The best part is the 
enclosure:  a "Unix Barf Bag", an actual airline sicksack with the book's
cartoon-user-figure lithographed onto it.  From a time before enclosures
in geek books started being CDs.

 
> It's interesting that most of these horror stories are older.  I don't see
> many that mention Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, (newer) Solaris, etc.
> Are system less error prone?
> Are sysadmins and users making fewer errors?
> Are people not sharing thier stories?

Hm.  Maybe.  Or maybe it's time for a 2nd Edition.  "Configuring CUPS" would
deserve a chapter by itself...


-Bill    :)