In the early days of the Internet, when it was pretty much exclusive to major universities, the admins were at least people in your organization; co-workers or staff members who you could speak to in person. They may have held power, but they were known and approachable.
There seems to be an obsession with replicating the scale and power of GFAM and co. now. Being a "responsible admin" by putting on your professional face and treating the people on your servers like customers rather than fellow community members. (It's often at least partially motivated by people wanting to make themselves feel important & powerful, but that's another story.)
But when your sysadmin is just an authority figure, not a person, you can't have a conversation with them. You may be entrusting them with control over your digital life, but you can't open up to them. It's just a phone call with Customer Support—you can ask them why the computer's not behaving, but you can't sit down with them for a coffee and discuss how it all works. And the air of distance and superiority makes people afraid of all sysadmins.
We need less of that, I think. Far, far less of that, and more sysadmins who are friendly, approachable members of the community they serve. Hell, Free Software and the Internet is supposed to be about community! Let's nourish that, not crush it in favour of corporate aesthetics.
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lamp
in reply to Pup Keith DX Director's Cut • •Pup Keith DX Director's Cut doesn't like this.
anatil e\x9f\xf0\xbc\xa5n lu\x00l
in reply to Pup Keith DX Director's Cut • •like realistically in the avg setting (certainly a lot of corp settings), a user needing to talk to their sysadmin means the sysadmin hasn't done their job well
Pup Keith DX Director's Cut
in reply to anatil e\x9f\xf0\xbc\xa5n lu\x00l •Also, the mentality of sysadmins being invisible entities who just control the servers and never talk to their users unless something's wrong is exactly the problem I was trying to point out in my post.
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anatil e\x9f\xf0\xbc\xa5n lu\x00l
in reply to Pup Keith DX Director's Cut • •like i have gained a reputation at work (sysadmin, everything from desktop to datacenter) for being someone in the department who is approachable, i don't try to practice some kind of holier-than-thou attitude. and regardless what i've learned in seven years is that the vast majority of people simply don't care about the inner workings of technical things, and when they do need to think about it, it's because it's broken or not designed in a way that is helpful to them. this extends to friend groups as well... been running various services for 15 years now for people of all levels of technical knowledge and there have only been a handful who want to know any of the details
have further thoughts on fedi's accessibility to people who don't (or don't want to) understand the workings of federation but idk if it's worth going into at the moment
i also don't really see where the air of professionalism you cite exists on fedi (although i certainly see how it could in theory, everyone wants their own little fiefdom). even with... show more
like i have gained a reputation at work (sysadmin, everything from desktop to datacenter) for being someone in the department who is approachable, i don't try to practice some kind of holier-than-thou attitude. and regardless what i've learned in seven years is that the vast majority of people simply don't care about the inner workings of technical things, and when they do need to think about it, it's because it's broken or not designed in a way that is helpful to them. this extends to friend groups as well... been running various services for 15 years now for people of all levels of technical knowledge and there have only been a handful who want to know any of the details
have further thoughts on fedi's accessibility to people who don't (or don't want to) understand the workings of federation but idk if it's worth going into at the moment
i also don't really see where the air of professionalism you cite exists on fedi (although i certainly see how it could in theory, everyone wants their own little fiefdom). even with huge instances like mastosoc people regularly ping gargron and he'll reply... perhaps it is outside of my extended circles
グレェ「grey」
in reply to Pup Keith DX Director's Cut • •For me at least, becoming a SysOp was something which I was initiated into by other SysOps.
It wasn't really a career path? I was a teenager who showed promise basically.
I was given a 1200 baud modem and told to choose a handle.
Perhaps, it is still that way with SysOps.
Perhaps, we lost something with Sysadmins?
We unequivocally lost something with DevOps. Can you *imagine* giving someone ops/administrative/wheel/sudo/enable/etc. privileged access who isn't already a dev?
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グレェ「grey」
Unknown parent • •I was a proficient coder on systems which didn't even have user abstractions, memory protection, modems nor Ethernet, no TCP/IP stacks, long before anyone gave me SysOp privileges.
I was a (co)SysOp on several BBSes before I was ever given a shell account with access to root privileges.
So, yeah, IMHO, the Dev in DevOps is insultingly redundant.
グレェ「grey」
in reply to グレェ「grey」 • •Admittedly, Windows didn't even have a concept of users, let alone privileged users when I first used it.
I used C/PM & MS-DOS & DR-DOS before Windows existed.
I had been root/admin/etc. on many networks before I had enable access on switches & routers & firewalls & VPNs, etc.
There is a progression of privileges, & each one comes with more responsibility.
グレェ「grey」
in reply to グレェ「grey」 • •More responsibility does not come with a better quality of life nor better compensation.
I have worked many jobs where I was on call 24x7 for years.
Doing the math? Even $130,000/year salary (my record highest pay scale) divides to $15/hour. ;-/
I've slept at no fewer than five separate employer's offices.
Treated like it.sh while enabling CxOs who couldn't do my job if they had a gun pointed at their heads.
Enabling evil. ;(
グレェ「grey」
in reply to グレェ「grey」 • •I am still burnt out.
Still seeking employment with a dynamic of "right relations" so I don't incur more karmic debt.
I'm still in normal debt.
Still sleeping in a car and homeless.
I still code too.
But I think how others have treated me is pretty horrible.
Society seems irredeemable.
グレェ「grey」
Unknown parent • •I dunno.
If you are getting paid as a sysadmin, even if you are wasting time, there are probably worse careers?
If you can't code as a sysadmin, that confuses me. I guess Windows and Macs have lots of GUI tools and maybe don't require programming? I can't imagine using a computer without coding.
Or well I can: mobile devices (e.g. Android, iOS) which require "real" systems to write software for them.
I HATE that. I don't have sufficient words.
Virtue signal 💉💉💉🇺🇸 🇺🇦
in reply to Pup Keith DX Director's Cut • •Or end up like email w most users on large sites. But at least they would compete, and small servers.
Also ppl over there are starstruck w Tribel. Its corporate like birdsite & gaining PYTs showing their selfies. Imagine all the serious ppl flock there and then Republican billionaire buys that, too!
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Jessica
in reply to Pup Keith DX Director's Cut • •Content warning: bad post
"hey admin, suck my dick" and actually mean it like "hey admin, suck my dick 🥺" and not "hey admin, suck my dick 🖕"
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in reply to Jessica •Content warning: bad post
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in reply to rats [KILLED] • •Content warning: re: bad post
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Vftdan
in reply to Jessica • •good post
@keith
Pup Keith DX Director's Cut
Unknown parent •Pup Keith DX Director's Cut
Unknown parent •jordan
in reply to Pup Keith DX Director's Cut • •oof. i feel that. probably have done that myself.
i think part of it is also a fear that if you don't give off that GFAM vibe, people won't take whatever service you're running seriously and treat it like a toy rather than a tool. or like a second rate toy if it is supposed to be a toy. ;)
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tyil
in reply to Pup Keith DX Director's Cut • •Pup Keith DX Director's Cut likes this.
Pup Keith DX Director's Cut
in reply to tyil •StroomAfwaarts
in reply to Pup Keith DX Director's Cut • •The fediverse gives me exactly that feeling of meaningful connection! 🥰
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earfolds
in reply to Pup Keith DX Director's Cut • •The idea of a faceless organisation exploiting them is nebulous. The idea of a human being breaking their trust is tangible.
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in reply to Pup Keith DX Director's Cut • •Mastodon @ skewed.de: https://social.skewed.de/@tiago/109262251302673023
Tiago Peixoto (@tiago@social.skewed.de)
Mastodon @ skewed.deJo :v_enby: :blobhaj_default: :neocat:
in reply to Pup Keith DX Director's Cut • •Pup Keith DX Director's Cut likes this.
a pup of coffee :v_agender: :bowie: ☕
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