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March 2nd, 2002
 | 04:33 pm - Modification Administration
I've become a lax, rusty linux systems hacker. it took way too long to get all the various mess associated with a 3c575 pcmcia card to play nice under debian-testing + 2.4.x. On the other hand, I discovered that sysadmining is like riding a bike. In many ways -- if you start "modifying" things in the system without holistic knowledge of the entire process, you may be entering a world of pain.
Another things, bucy has ranted about for a while. I've just been completely uninclined to sysadmin. But the key to success as a more matured programmer is being willing to scale up the project as necessary. My dad, not a sysadmin, has a notion of 1-x projects. Generally, these are "simple" which can be done in "an afternoon" with standard tools. Every escalation (having to bring in additional help, buying a new power tool, making something non-functional for longer than projected, etc) adds an x.
So to with muxing with systems. I generally approach a problem, where something did/does work sometimes, as a configuration issue. That its just a problem of permissions. To be effective now, I just have to remember that its not a big energy-gap jump to where the fix involves writing code. Back in high school, perhaps, I had a great deal more dedication toward making it work through available tools. No longer -- that's what phat perl and python skillz are for. And fluency in reading n-languages... it must be remembered that 'source-code availability' is not just a speech issue, its a way to make things work.
Additional note: livejournal has phat in its spelling dictionary, but it still lacks skillz
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This is why I am looking to switch to MacOS. For some people there is enjoyment to be had from maintaining their system ( The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance needs to be revised perhaps). However, I think I have ceased to be one of those people, and on top of that maintaining a Linux system just keeps getting more complicated. I used to know what most of the stuff /etc did, but now days all the Debian packages I have dump so much stuff in there, who knows. I still haven't decided, partly because I have no money to spend on a new laptop at present, but given the demise of BeOS
MacOS seems to be pretty much the best alternative.
Your spelling woes can be solved by the use of LogJam which will use your local ispell/aspell. There is Debian package for it in Testing. | | From: |  daemonv |
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| Date: | March 3rd, 2002 11:07 am (UTC) |
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I agree. I contemplate MacOSX. You'll recall my BeOS episode earlier. Despite my laptop being dead, however, I lean more towards the new iMac style -- it would be nice to have a graphics-friendly workstation. In the future... when I figure out the what, where, and how of what I am doing next year. Until then I can't really contemplate spending money. As for LogJam... that would be heresy against jtunison's davinci. Really, though, I still like the webinterface, given how nomadic and without stable machines I am. Who needs to sp3ll g00d anyw4y. | From: | (Anonymous) |
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| Date: | March 3rd, 2002 09:17 pm (UTC) |
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| | my subject is my name. aaron | (Link) |
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Funny that 4 years ago I was a windows user getting you guys to help me install linux on my machine. Now I generally have no problem maintaining anything on my systems. Plus, now that I've discovered crossover, there is little reason for me to use anything else.
As for macs, I still think they look stupid. I would never get one for a desktop, I require far too much customizability, and until they have >1 mouse button on the laptops, they're unacceptable. | | From: | daemonv |
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| Date: | March 3rd, 2002 09:28 pm (UTC) |
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I'll be interested to see how long that keeps up. I recall having all of that enthusiasm for systems. I think its supposed to fade, eventually. Getting things to work "just so" and because "why not". Or maybe this is not true for the world, and I don't really have interests just a transient, intensive focus on particular things. When they are no longer shiny (I no longer crack machines, nor play much guitar, etc) they pass out of interest.
But yes, one mousebutton prevents me from even considering a mac laptop. A mac desktop would have a mouse with multiple buttons. Would have to. Though I don't really use the mouse very much, except for graphics. ![[User Picture]](https://l-userpic.livejournal.com/51962770/485511) | | From: | leko |
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| Date: | March 3rd, 2002 09:33 pm (UTC) |
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I tend to hang on to my hobbies... except for theater which had been ripped out of my hands when I went to college.
Anyway, I'd don't really tire of getting this stuff to work, but I do get distracted from my projects like my stereo control stuff. |
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