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I'm not sure if it's a good thing if no software developer in a company has the skill to install and maintain an application on a linux server. To me that's no

by dx034 5y ago

I'm not sure if it's a good thing if no software developer in a company has the skill to install and maintain an application on a linux server. To me that's no additional knowledge for a developer, but one of the basics they should know anyway.

jhugo 5y ago
It probably depends what sort of software your company builds. A frontend web design shop might well have developers who have little or no relevant experience for self-hosting something like Gitlab.
Aicy 5y ago
Except it's more complex than that. Ideally you want to have multiple runners, and for them to scale so that developers aren't endlessly waiting in job queues. On top of that you might want proper network segregation, and for it to be on a separate virtual network to your workloads to reduce your blast radius. You might have problems with connecting your server to third party SaaS outside your network, etc etc etc
- dx034 5y ago
  A runner is super simple to set up and you once write a script and just deploy it a few times. Virtual network is also very easy to set up with most providers (even with dedicated servers), there's pretty much zero config. So far we didn't have any issues connecting to outside SaaS, but we host most stuff ourselves anyway, so that's not a common use case.
- vorpalhex 5y ago
  I run Gitlab runners for my social group.. It took about 20 minutes to setup and I don't think there has ever been a maintenance period for it other than a nightly upgrade/restart that is automated. I use docker for network isolation.
Milner08 5y ago
There is 'running a basic linux server' then there is running a secure, scalable and reliable server for the whole org to use. The latter is the job of a sys admin, not an developer. Sure I could probably figure it out, but I am no expert and it would be a waste of my time.
Nextgrid 5y ago
It worries me that running a monolithic web application + DB on a Linux server is now seen as arcane, specialized knowledge. If you think this is complex, I'd be worried about how you do the actually complex stuff like data security, etc.
- Msw242 5y ago
  Engineers have to understand the business, talk with other stakeholders, design systems, write code, write tests, support the production environment, etc, etc, etc. Why would decisionmakers want to add outsource-able ops overhead to that very full plate?

by dx034 5y ago

jhugo 5y ago

It probably depends what sort of software your company builds. A frontend web design shop might well have developers who have little or no relevant experience for self-hosting something like Gitlab.

Aicy 5y ago

Except it's more complex than that. Ideally you want to have multiple runners, and for them to scale so that developers aren't endlessly waiting in job queues. On top of that you might want proper network segregation, and for it to be on a separate virtual network to your workloads to reduce your blast radius. You might have problems with connecting your server to third party SaaS outside your network, etc etc etc

dx034 5y ago
A runner is super simple to set up and you once write a script and just deploy it a few times. Virtual network is also very easy to set up with most providers (even with dedicated servers), there's pretty much zero config. So far we didn't have any issues connecting to outside SaaS, but we host most stuff ourselves anyway, so that's not a common use case.
vorpalhex 5y ago
I run Gitlab runners for my social group.. It took about 20 minutes to setup and I don't think there has ever been a maintenance period for it other than a nightly upgrade/restart that is automated. I use docker for network isolation.

Milner08 5y ago

There is 'running a basic linux server' then there is running a secure, scalable and reliable server for the whole org to use. The latter is the job of a sys admin, not an developer. Sure I could probably figure it out, but I am no expert and it would be a waste of my time.

Nextgrid 5y ago

It worries me that running a monolithic web application + DB on a Linux server is now seen as arcane, specialized knowledge. If you think this is complex, I'd be worried about how you do the actually complex stuff like data security, etc.

Msw242 5y ago
Engineers have to understand the business, talk with other stakeholders, design systems, write code, write tests, support the production environment, etc, etc, etc. Why would decisionmakers want to add outsource-able ops overhead to that very full plate?