Re: [NTLK] I am my own grandpa (sysadmin?)

From: Ed Kummel (tech_ed_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Thu Nov 03 2005 - 06:38:20 PST


John,
You have no idea of the *crap* (well, maybe you do) I
have put up with...between brain-dead senior managers,
to IT folk flexing their help-desk muscles, to unix
nerds with egos the size of city of Baltimore (don't
know why I picked Baltimore...it just flows well) From
managers complaining and saying that all they want is
"good enough" to IT drones thinking that their
particular brand of os is better than anything I would
consider...it just gets under your skin!
I've really done it all...In fact, I actually started
out administering Macs. My first IT job was
configuring, setting up and maintaining an all Mac
network. It had about 30 nodes and 3 servers. 2 quadra
900's and an SE-30 (File system, Filemaker Pro and fax
in/out) I also maintained a 45 extension
voicemail/phone PBX that ran on OS2 and an accounting
package that ran on NT. I even wrote the inventory
tracking system in FileMaker using 3 of 9 barcoding
for better accuracy.
I had to leave Macs because I began to feel boxed
in...Do you remember that Tron game where you ran that
motorcycle around a playing field and if you hit your
tail, you died? One of the classic ways of dying was
to create a box and continue making right angle turns,
building a box inside a box, inside a box until there
was nowhere else to go, and so you crashed into your
own tail....That is how I felt...so I went somewhere
where there weren't any walls or restrictions...I
tried Unix and Solaris, but discovered that nothing
really had changed from when I did that stuff in the
'80s...I found that the Windows platform to be the
most fertile for constant learning. With things moving
and improving every other year or so, being an
administrator for Windows requires being on your
toes...you don't get a chance to be bored...and I hate
being bored...so I've been Windows ever since....Sure,
there's the inherrant elegance of the Mac, and the
tank-like steadfastness of *nix, but Windows is a
moving target that takes real skill to master...it's
like skeet shooting as opposed to shooting at a paper
target, it's more of a challenge!
Ed
web/gadget guru
Download Newton packages directly onto your Newton:
http://newton.tek-ed.com

--- John <OceanCity_at_mac.com> wrote:

<snip>
> horrendous undertaking. How
> about you switching gears and jumping to the other
> side for a change of
> pace? Your advantage would be that not only could
> your expand your
> areas of expertise but you'd bring with you the
> unique perspective of
> having been a cat burglar as well ;-) Just and
> idea.
>
> John

"I'm not an expert, but I *did* stay at a Holiday Inn Express once..."
     --Holiday Inn Commercial

                
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