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Re: Mac OS X Internals Book


On Jun 28, 2006, at 10:41 PM, email@hidden wrote:


At 2:25 PM +0100 6/28/06, Simon Slavin wrote: 
The attitude that system administration is so easy you can just
'pick it up' is ridiculous.  And it's that attitude that leads to
much of the idiocy we see here: people who don't know when to read
man pages; people who run backup systems they've never tested;
people who order dual-power-supply systems then plug both supplies
into the same UPS.


And it's these same people that then get insulted when told to read
the documentation. That's what I don't get. Yet they tell their
students everyday to read the textbooks...

--

-dhan



I don't think anyone asking for help on this list has the notion that being a full blown, professional, full time, <add your buzzwords here> sysadmin can be just "picked up". It is also not their goal to become that level of sysadmin. That "poor teacher performing the sysadmin duties" isn't going after your sysadmin jobs, he is just trying to get the job done. While typing this email I have the 11pm news on, listening to a story about a middle school in my state eliminating 25 teacher jobs and 23 teacher assistant jobs. Guess what folks, not all schools can afford a full time, highly qualified, properly educated sysadmin. These people do the best they can with what they have.

Being told to read the documentation will not insult most people, including school teachers who act as sysadmins. Being told to RTFM sends out the attitude and tone of what it literally says (look up RTFM with the Mac OS X dictionary), while extending your middle finger. Why not just tell them to RTM instead of RTFM? How would you like to go to your doctor and have him tell you to take these pills, then have him tell you to RTFM if you ask what they are for. Geez, what are you doing, trying to be a doctor? No, this may not be the greatest analogy, but hopefully the point will come across as intended. Do the people who tell everyone to RTFM go around their offices telling people the same thing when asked a question face to face? Email tends to make people a little braver and a little less human.

I happen to have met the gentleman who admitted to being a teacher and acting as the school's sysadmin. I was very impressed with his level of knowledge of Mac OS X Server and networking, and I'm not one to impress easily. No, he isn't at the level of many on this list when it comes to sysadmin duties, but he is far ahead than would be expected and simply blows away most on this list in the human relations department.

When people such as school teachers or other non-professional sysadmins ask questions, they just want to solve their problem. They are told to RTFM and belittled in other ways with unhelpful little quips, usually not getting a helpful answer. What often happens is people back channel each other with real answers, and the answers never make it to the list to be shared or archived. Nothing is gained by operating this way.

Anyone ever learn the "golden rule" as children? How about we start treating each other with respect. If you know where the poster can read about something, give them an idea where to read instead of just saying RTFM, or don't say anything at all. People ask about how something works, explain it or don't say anything at all. People want to know how to troubleshoot something, throw them some genuinely useful ideas, or don't say anything at all. Want to tell someone to RTFM, lower your middle finger and tell them to RTM, stating which one and maybe a clue as to where in the manual if appropriate. No, exact page and paragraph isn't necessary.

Sure there will be exceptions where the poster will want an unrealistic level of help through the list, and may even be a school teacher. Just ignore the question. There is no need to respond to every question. Let someone else field the question who is more willing. If you don't have anything nice or constructive to say, please just don't say anything and let it go.

Ron Wagner




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