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[Paul Lussier]

"Ben Scott" <dragonhawk at gmail.com> writes:

> On 1/30/07, Paul Lussier <p.lussier at comcast.net> wrote:
>> "So, what does it take to get to this level of understanding Linux?".
>
>   Wow.  Ah, got a few minutes?  ;-)

Yeah, that's kinda what I said :)

>> "Ditch Windows, increase your pain threshold to nearly
>> intolerable, and don't use anything but a UNIX-based OS for 15+ years?
>
>   I suspect that's pretty much on the mark.  Though I doubt your
> colleague is looking for that answer.

Exactly.

>   I think, to be good in any field, you have to be driven to learn
> more than you have to, and do more than you have to.  To be good in
> *this* field, you additionally need good analytical and
> problem-solving skills, and enjoy taking things apart to see how they
> work.  I suspect the ability to enjoy and do well at learning by
> reading is also extremely beneficial, if not essential.

Right.  Passion is the word I use to sum this up.  Of the best *NIX
sysadmins/programmers I've known (several on this list!), the one
thing they all have in common is the passion for learning and doing.

But how do you convey to someone who's stuck on the Business side the
company, up to eyeballs in mostly Windows desktop support BS that a)
he lacks passion, and b) he needs to spend more time with Linux? :)

>   I suspect an interest in the history of the field helps.  Not just
> where computing is going, but where it has been.  

This is another thing I also find very much in common with *NIX folks.
We seem to care very much about the history.  Perhaps because we have
so much of it?  *NIX also has many, many colorful personalities
sprinkled liberally throughout it's history.  Windows seems to have
Bill and Steve, which are, to me, personalities which make you more
interested in making sure your wallet is still there than any history
they might be part of.

Is this passion for computer history due our ability to attach a face
and/or personality to every piece of software we use?  Our general
geekiness and throrough interest in anything related to technology,
regardless of how ancient (admit it, half of us have read The
Difference Engine, Casting the Net, A Quarter Century of UNIX, Three
Degrees Above Zero, or other books like these :) ?
A combination of these ? Or is it something else entirely?

> Community has helped me immeasurably.

True, I've recommended this forum to many over the years (hmm, I
wonder if any of them are still here :)

I too rely heavily upon communities, this one for general knowledge,
USENIX for more intense, complicated stuff, and then various sw
specific mailing lists for specific focused questions.

> I also saw patterns.  There are patterns in most of the mistakes
> people make. There are patterns in how the gurus approached problem
> solving.  Very hard to codify this, but many people here will know
> what I mean.

Yep.  Like someone having a routing issue only to discover they don't
have a router? ;)  Then there was the great squeegee debacle of '99 :)

> If I had to put it words, I'd say it involves taking a
> scientific/engineering approach to everything.  Learning, design,
> operations, problem-solving, everything.  If you're guessing and
> hoping and doing trial-and-error all the time, you're never going to
> be as good as the gurus.

Good point.

>   And finally, to be a true zen master Unix sys admin, you have to
> read and grok the Jargon file (http://www.jargon.org).  ;-)

Heh, yeah, this is something I've referenced only occassionally over
the years, but never really just sat down and read through it.

>   "There is no silver bullet." -- Fred Brooks

Right again!

-- 
Seeya,
Paul
--
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A: Yes.                                                               
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