Unix horror stories

[Randy Edwards]

 > 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?

   A great series of questions!  Here's a theory I'll float...

   I think it's doubtful that admins are more trained (i.e. making fewer 
errors) than in years past.  Microsoft's dominance and the growth of *nix 
systems make that unlikely.

   But I do think there is a tendency for admins to keep their mouths shut 
more.  Follow this line of logic[sic].

   If one paid for a shoddy piece of software one is much more likely to 
complain -- they feel ripped off and most people bitch about being ripped 
off.

   But with free software, in many ways you're intimidated from complaining 
because you didn't pay for the software.  You know that someone is working 
for you for free.  Add to that the fact that sometimes you'll see coders 
bluntly say, "Then why don't you fix it yourself."  Now factor in that many 
admins have little or no coding ability (an embarrassment factor) and things 
start to add up.

   Mix in a declining job market, admins being busier than ever -- and I'd 
argue not really appreciated the way they were in years past -- and there 
could definitely be a problem with this type of feedback.

   Totaling all that you wind up with admins who are "safer" and more content 
if they just keep their mouths shut, solve problems quietly themselves, 
and/or switch software.

 Regards,
 .
 Randy

-- 
"Our government has kept us in a perpetual state of fear -- kept us in a 
continuous stampede of patriotic fervor -- with the cry of grave national 
emergency. Always there has been some terrible evil at home or some monstrous 
foreign power that was going to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally 
behind it by furnishing the exorbitant funds demanded. Yet, in retrospect, 
these disasters seem never to have happened, seem never to have been quite 
real." -- General Douglas MacArthur, 1957.