Not this again... * The first level consumer of a log message is a human. * The programer knows what information is needed to debug an issue. I beli

Not this again... * The first level consumer of a log message is a human. * The programer knows what information is needed to debug an issue. I believe these presumptions are no longer correct in server side software. The author's assumptions are wrong on both cases: There may be any number of automated agents consuming the log, so a human isn't the largest consumer of log messages (in volume), but it is the first consumer of log messages as it is a human that ultimately will need them to troubleshoot issues. Programmers are not the ones who "debug" issues in production environments. Both of these are just symptoms of the same base misconception about how systems administrators go about their work. The same misconception that brought us XML configuration files. When troubleshooting production issues I want to be able to grep for specific strings or regular expressions. I want to be able to tail the log. I do not want to have to parse structure (programatically or mentally), I do not want multi-line log entries. I do not want to be forced to use a tool just to transform the log from whatever format into something I can read. Going even further: often production issues arise when only people less familiar with the system are available locally. In these cases I don't want to explain log structure over the phone.