When Unix Stops Being Fun

[Bart Silverstrim]

On Oct 2, 2004, at 11:50 PM, Dave Vollenweider wrote:

> This has nothing to do with technical problems, but rather it's more 
> of a request for moral support.  This may seem disjointed, so bear 
> with me.

Alt.sysadmin.recovery? :-)

> I've been using FreeBSD for over six months now, but I've been using 
> Unix-like operating systems for almost two years.  I started with Red 
> Hat Linux back when Red Hat was making and selling their 
> "consumer-grade" version of Red Hat Linux, then switched to Debian 
> before going to FreeBSD last March.  I now also run NetBSD on one of 
> my machines.

Sounds like the path many administrators start out on :-)

> Through all this, I've developed a passion for this type of OS, seeing 
> the elegance, performance, and sheer power of Unix.  This has affected 
> me to the point of me changing my career path.  Before I got into 
> these OSs, I wanted to get into radio.  Now I'd rather either be a 
> system administrator or run my own consulting business for entities 
> that use these types of OSs.  But herein lies the problem I've been 
> having lately: while searching around for what I'd need to know to 
> become a system administrator, I came across this page: 
> http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/8/13/131727/462 and I'm overwhelmed 
> by the sheer amount of knowledge I'd have to gain.

It's a good overview, but man oh man...you can't memorize all of that.  
Worse, things change over time.  The "Linux way" to accomplish 
something changes depending on the distro, the release version,...

the important thing is that you can *look it up* and are able to 
understand the fundamentals.  You may not know precisely how to sit 
down and get that new printer to print first time through and have it 
going in ten minutes, but you should be familiar enough to know that it 
may have something to do with configuring LPR and/or SMB sharing or 
CUPS to not be scratching your head over what to look for next.  You 
should be able to google with decent search terms and be able to follow 
howtos.

The stuff from the courses are pretty specific.  Good to know, yes.  
Only thing to know?  NO.  You need to be flexible because in two years 
that test will be outdated and not of extreme use when you're trying to 
figure out how to install apache on FreeBSD properly...they don't have 
ports on Red Hat :-)  (heresy, I know, old schoolers are chanting 
*install from source! install from source!* and everyone should have 
had to try that at some point in their learning process...)

Also, there's sub niches in learning system administration.  You can't 
be a great jack of all trades, but you can be familiar with the areas 
and be really good at one or two.  I hate hardware.  I can make Cat5 
patches, but I don't enjoy it.  I know people that would love to spend 
all their time punching drops and if put in support would rather punch 
users.  Some people spend more time getting adept at diagnosing network 
problems, or setting up servers and maintaining them.  Some people get 
stuck in niches and never adapt or grow (ever find people who think 
Netware is the ultimate server OS for everything under the sun?  Could 
you at least consider that maybe a small Linux machine could have 
handled that without the cost??).  Some people truly enjoy helping 
users with training or minor tech support, like a lab support person.

That list is daunting.  Find what you like.  After setting up five or 
six machines, you get exposed to that stuff in due time.  If you're a 
fast learner and good at googling for information, it'll all be okay 
:-)

> It took me almost two years to get to where I am today, and it looks 
> like I've barely scratched the surface of what I'd need to know.  But 
> now, I feel like instead of learning things on my own for fun, I have 
> to learn other things I don't really have a need to learn for myself 
> or that I want to, just so that I can apply that to oth
>  er peoples' situations.

Um...yeah.  That happens.  Surest way to kill a passion is to make it a 
job :-)

Just make sure the benefits outweigh the hassles.  You'll hang in 
there.  You'll have to learn a lot of gotcha's along the way, that's 
just the way life is.  Especially in technology.

> The result is that lately learning these OSs has become more of a 
> chore than a fun hobby, and I'm still intimidated by what I need to 
> learn to get to where I want to go.  It almost seems like it's not 
> worth it.

That's a decision only you can make.  You know, you don't need to stay 
in one profession your whole life.  Why not combine radio with 
technology?  Start a radio show about technology.  Work as a consultant 
for stations.   Start an Internet radio show like Radio Tiki did.

Most departments in businesses aren't just one person.  If you start a 
consultation business, take in employees or a partner.  Or if you go 
into "the real world", there's usually other people working with you.  
You have to have a support system for learning, and in my experience, 
two people can easily complement each other in skills.  That's why they 
hire other people...there's gaps that need filling in manpower or sheer 
"what the hell is causing this??" head scratchers.

> Now, being that I know there are some very experienced people on this 
> list, I'm betting that I'm not the only one that has experienced this, 
> that learning new things in Unix-like OSs becomes more of a chore than 
> something to do for fun.  My question is, what advice would you have 
> for dealing with this?

What, that there's a lot to learn?  Dude, it ain't gonna stop.  If you 
enjoy figuring out the puzzles, you can keep up.  You'll find a niche 
(or for consulting businesses, you MAKE your niche and people come to 
you).  Computer paradigms have been changing and continue to change.  
Get experience, get exposure to new ideas, keep up in lists and enlist 
the aide of others, and work on your *researching* skills.  Every day 
I'm hitting google for some oddball support question thrown my way and 
I'm poring over lists and support boards because of some Windows quirk 
or some new log entry that looks suspicious.

If you dealing with the stress...well...burning out has some benefits 
too if your company has good medical compensation.

-Bart