I have been following this - and other discussions here and elsewhere - and I
have some mixed feelings about what is happening.
I started with Linux at about Red Hat 5.2 in 1997 or so. I was looking to move
away from OS/2 as I could see it was dying at that point but I had no desire to
learn anything about (my opinion) that piece of crap many call WinBloze. There
were no classes on Linux and almost no books. So I taught myself using what was
available, usually with the aid of the few books that were extant then and a
couple local people who were more advanced than I. This was before I realized
that, in Gnu/Linux and Unix, ANYTHING can be done and all I have to do is find
the right command(s) to make it happen. Not that I don't need a bit of a nudge
now and then.
<rant>
But that assistance was almost always in the form of me asking a question about
how to do something and a response that I should check out a particular resource
or simply the name of a command to look up. No one ever EVER gave me a complete
command or script that would solve my problem. Nor did I want them to.
I always learn best by doing things, exploring and experimenting. Most people I
have taught in my own classes as well as Red Hat training and IBM classes I have
taught over the years are the same way. At least those who students who actually
"get it."
I believe that it is important to help those who are just beginning the long
road towards being a "real" sysadmin, however you might define that. But I also
believe that giving little nudges in the right direction and letting them figure
out the rest is ALWAYS the best way to help them learn.
I also think that too many people just starting with Linux are still thinking
along the lines of WinBloze and don't even know about the Unix/Linux Philosophy.
Learning and keeping that philosophy in mind can go a long way towards helping
solve any problem and understanding any part of Gnu/Linux.
The attitude of many new to Linux and unfamiliar with the philosophy seems to be
that they just want a specific map to follow, a set of steps or a formula with
no variables to follow to solve every problem. Well that is NOT the Linux way.
Nor can it ever be. This attitude is typical of WinBloze admins, IT and project
managers as well as MBA's who have no real understanding of the underlying
technologies they "manage." Admins coming out of other environments need to
realize that computers and operating systems - especially "real" ones like Linux
- are complex and there is no one way to do anything nor is there one single
answer to most questions. Learning how things work is important.
There is a great deal of really good information on the Internet that can help
almost anyone looking to learn or to resolve a particular problem. There is also
an unbelievable amount of garbage out there that is incomplete or just plain
wrong and that can be very frustrating to anyone wishing to learn. Sorting
through it and deciding which is which can be nearly impossible, especially for
a newcomer.
I have also been very frustrated by the poorly written and allegedly "free" crap
some people peddle on places like LinkedIn and hope that very few actually use
them. These documents can make learning the reality of Linux daunting and
probably cause many to give up and stay with what they know.
Perhaps some questions get asked here because people are so frustrated with the
huge amounts of bad data that they want to come to the source first and not
waste time experimenting their way through the garbage. I always keep a set of
VMs available for experimentation, but not everyone has a VM or non-critical
hardware available for experimentation.
It can also be important to understand why a question is being asked. Is this
person trying to write a book? Fix a problem? Just understand how it works?
As for job titles, most are ridiculous anyway. As owner of my own business I
have given myself a couple titles including "President," "Lead Trainer" and
"Senior Consultant." The adjectives "senior" and "lead" are meaningless in
reality because I am a one person shop. But they imply things to the people to
whom I try to sell my services.
I once worked for a large bank that had literally hundreds of "vice presidents."
The only qualification was to contribute to the bank's political PAC.
</rant>
So, though I mostly lurk and learn, I think it important to point people in the
right direction without doing their jobs for them.
And I also enjoy a good discussion, however heated. ;-)
On 10/01/2014 07:11 AM, Kai Schaetzl wrote:
Digimer wrote on Tue, 30 Sep 2014 17:18:17 -0400:
I think it would be really good if everyone took a step back, took a
deep breath, and relaxed. This thread has generated a surprisingly (and
to me baffling) amount of negativity.
I don't know how long you have been on this list, but it's a really
friendly place. Has been, still is. To get a response like the one in this
thread you have to "earn" it. In this case it's obvious that the OP is of
that "please do my homework for me" type and didn't do any research of his
own other than finding out there is something different. This is not
friendly to the list and it's not good enough for a "senior" consultant.
Ned's response was appropriate and actually quite friendly.
Kai
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