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> Basically, maintenance of complex systems or assets, are intellectually demanding tasks. Not as hard as making those systems in the first place. > I am not

by varjag 10y ago

> Basically, maintenance of complex systems or assets, are intellectually demanding tasks. Not as hard as making those systems in the first place. > I am not saying that the jobs do not require skills, it's just that these skills are not that valuable. I'm not convinced that an average network engineer does a more challenging (or valuable) job than an average car mechanic.

pjc50 10y ago
It's often easier to build a system than it is to maintain it, because you have a free choice across the solution space and you don't have to maintain any existing commitments. Maintenance (physical or virtual) can often be made extremely difficult or expensive because of the need to avoid disrupting working systems, and the need to integrate with what's already there.
somecallitblues 10y ago
You've never had to add a new small feature to a highly customized Wordpress site someone else built I think.
- varjag 10y ago
  Fair enough!
juliangoldsmith 10y ago
>I'm not convinced that an average network engineer does a more challenging (or valuable) job than an average car mechanic. Mechanical work on cars isn't rocket science, in the same way that IT work isn't. It's difficult if you don't know what you're doing, and not hard if you do. Both things most anyone could do (at least at a basic level) themselves, but most people don't care to learn.
collyw 10y ago
Come and work on our system. Poor database design and way too much complexity in simple tasks.Maintaining it is far harder than a rewrite would be.
- varjag 10y ago
  > Poor database design and way too much complexity in simple tasks. This actually supports my point that making a decent system in the first place is hard. And if you have a reasonable estimate that a rewrite would be cheaper than incurred maintenance costs, it might be worth it. I was speaking generally though: an average quality system and average maintenance work. Some systems are terrible and fall apart from an angry glance, some are so good they require almost no maintenance. In my personal experience systems maintenance can be menial and time consuming, sometimes clever, but it ain't no rocket science.

by varjag 10y ago

pjc50 10y ago

It's often easier to build a system than it is to maintain it, because you have a free choice across the solution space and you don't have to maintain any existing commitments. Maintenance (physical or virtual) can often be made extremely difficult or expensive because of the need to avoid disrupting working systems, and the need to integrate with what's already there.

somecallitblues 10y ago

You've never had to add a new small feature to a highly customized Wordpress site someone else built I think.

varjag 10y ago
Fair enough!

juliangoldsmith 10y ago

>I'm not convinced that an average network engineer does a more challenging (or valuable) job than an average car mechanic. Mechanical work on cars isn't rocket science, in the same way that IT work isn't. It's difficult if you don't know what you're doing, and not hard if you do. Both things most anyone could do (at least at a basic level) themselves, but most people don't care to learn.

collyw 10y ago

Come and work on our system. Poor database design and way too much complexity in simple tasks.Maintaining it is far harder than a rewrite would be.

varjag 10y ago
> Poor database design and way too much complexity in simple tasks. This actually supports my point that making a decent system in the first place is hard. And if you have a reasonable estimate that a rewrite would be cheaper than incurred maintenance costs, it might be worth it. I was speaking generally though: an average quality system and average maintenance work. Some systems are terrible and fall apart from an angry glance, some are so good they require almost no maintenance. In my personal experience systems maintenance can be menial and time consuming, sometimes clever, but it ain't no rocket science.