4 ms·

It's not that bizarre, you write software mainly used by systems administrators. I used to work with one of the guys who wrote apache, and now work with a guy w

It's not that bizarre, you write software mainly used by systems administrators. I used to work with one of the guys who wrote apache, and now work with a guy who wrote most of one of the popular NOSQL engines. And they both work as systems administrators. Not "useradd" systems administrators (although they are technically in that part of the org chart) but more like what Google calls "SREs." Rather than explaining what it is, this guy's google groups post does a better job: http://www.sage.org/lists/sage-members-archive/2005/msg02937.html http://www.sage.org/lists/sage-members-archive/2005/msg02937... If they just want you to add user accounts, that's weird. But SRE style jobs are where a lot of guys who write famous open source systems software end up. from the google groups post: "Yes, sysadmin skills are essential here, however we also require a very strong skillset in development, automation, high-level systems architecture, networking, statistics and general problem-solving." sounds like a description of zed!

mistermann 16y ago
Uhhhhh....oh, why bother.
- mistermann 16y ago
  Ah, nice downvotes, I guess a good lesson to not comment on smartass one liners who can later edit out the entire theme and content of their original post. The original post I commented on: "Maybe because you write software used by sysadmins?"
  - bad_user 16y ago
    No, the lesson is to not add one-liners that don't add anything to the conversation. Even after posting the original message, I really don't get your comment on it.
jrockway 16y ago
Google says something like that for every job. From what I know about SREs, the "programming" you do is basically shell scripts to automate sysadmin stuff. Programming, sure, but the most boring type possible.
- starkfist 16y ago
  I like automating sysadmin stuff. :(
- spudlyo 16y ago
  That kind of programming to me is fun. The most boring type of programming possible in my opinion is front end web development.
  - starkfist 16y ago
    Personally, I cannot stand the type of programming which is encapsulating a bunch of "BUSINESS LOGIC" in code. I.e. "apply this much tax unless we are in florida or new york, then apply this much. except on the day after christmas..." or even worse, "restrict these parts of the site to the accounting department, except for gary because he's in fiance, too" etc.
    - DannoHung 16y ago
      That's not so bad if you're given the freedom to not be a fucking idiot about it.
    - cglee 16y ago
      I actually find that pretty interesting because it allows me to learn about different types of businesses I otherwise wouldn't be exposed to. I guess the key is to work in a field you're interested in.
    - neilk 16y ago
      You know how Clark Kent's boss, in the first Superman movie, says "A good reporter doesn't get great stories — a good reporter makes them great."? Same thing with programming. If you are given enough freedom to do the job right, and you can find a way to motivate yourself, there are no bad programming jobs. Zed Shaw himself has bragged about a system he wrote which does the kind of business logic you mention -- except by his description it's a meta-programming system that can add rules almost as fast as they can think them up. That sounds like some sort of constraint solver, which is among the fanciest kind of programming around.
keyist 16y ago
what Google calls "SREs." Rather than explaining what it is, this guy's google groups post... I liked OmniTI's description of a role akin to SRE and the progression through the web operations career path they identify: http://omniti.com/seeds/what-is-web-operations http://omniti.com/seeds/what-is-web-operations . "This role is in no way fitting for failed developers, it is for developers/engineers that have outpaced their career path. One that has a deep understanding of how things work: a complete systemic view of general site architecture."

mistermann 16y ago

Uhhhhh....oh, why bother.

mistermann 16y ago
Ah, nice downvotes, I guess a good lesson to not comment on smartass one liners who can later edit out the entire theme and content of their original post. The original post I commented on: "Maybe because you write software used by sysadmins?"
- bad_user 16y ago
  No, the lesson is to not add one-liners that don't add anything to the conversation. Even after posting the original message, I really don't get your comment on it.

jrockway 16y ago

Google says something like that for every job. From what I know about SREs, the "programming" you do is basically shell scripts to automate sysadmin stuff. Programming, sure, but the most boring type possible.

starkfist 16y ago
I like automating sysadmin stuff. :(
spudlyo 16y ago
That kind of programming to me is fun. The most boring type of programming possible in my opinion is front end web development.
- starkfist 16y ago
  Personally, I cannot stand the type of programming which is encapsulating a bunch of "BUSINESS LOGIC" in code. I.e. "apply this much tax unless we are in florida or new york, then apply this much. except on the day after christmas..." or even worse, "restrict these parts of the site to the accounting department, except for gary because he's in fiance, too" etc.
  - DannoHung 16y ago
    That's not so bad if you're given the freedom to not be a fucking idiot about it.
  - cglee 16y ago
    I actually find that pretty interesting because it allows me to learn about different types of businesses I otherwise wouldn't be exposed to. I guess the key is to work in a field you're interested in.
  - neilk 16y ago
    You know how Clark Kent's boss, in the first Superman movie, says "A good reporter doesn't get great stories — a good reporter makes them great."? Same thing with programming. If you are given enough freedom to do the job right, and you can find a way to motivate yourself, there are no bad programming jobs. Zed Shaw himself has bragged about a system he wrote which does the kind of business logic you mention -- except by his description it's a meta-programming system that can add rules almost as fast as they can think them up. That sounds like some sort of constraint solver, which is among the fanciest kind of programming around.

keyist 16y ago

what Google calls "SREs." Rather than explaining what it is, this guy's google groups post... I liked OmniTI's description of a role akin to SRE and the progression through the web operations career path they identify: http://omniti.com/seeds/what-is-web-operations http://omniti.com/seeds/what-is-web-operations . "This role is in no way fitting for failed developers, it is for developers/engineers that have outpaced their career path. One that has a deep understanding of how things work: a complete systemic view of general site architecture."