Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2004 08:36:25 +0100 From: Matthew Seaman <m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk> To: "Matthew D. Fuller" <fullermd@over-yonder.net> Cc: freebsd-advocacy@freebsd.org Subject: Re: direction for training Message-ID: <20040705073625.GA66477@happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk> In-Reply-To: <20040704220257.GS77848@over-yonder.net> References: <20040702183604.A41037-100000@xena.mikey.net> <40E758D9.9060609@softweyr.com> <20040704083710.A546@dru.domain.org> <20040704153508.GA58009@happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk> <20040704220257.GS77848@over-yonder.net>
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On Sun, Jul 04, 2004 at 05:02:57PM -0500, Matthew D. Fuller wrote:
> On Sun, Jul 04, 2004 at 04:35:08PM +0100 I heard the voice of
> Matthew Seaman, and lo! it spake thus:
> >=20
> > Consider, for example vinum(8). To use vinum, you should understand
> > concepts like "what is RAID 1", "hardware vs software raid" and
> > "what are the pros- and cons- of using volumne management", none of
> > which are FreeBSD specific. Background knowledge should include
> > what alternative RAID systems are available on various different
> > OSes -- to just list a few of the software RAID systems: Solaris
> > ODS, Vertias VxVM, vinum(8), RaidFrame, LVM, even if it doesn't go
> > much beyond a one-liner describing each of them.
> >=20
> > Such is the basic theory that anyone working on any sort of system
> > would have to learn about first. *BSD specific material then
> > follows in, say, the practical details of using vinum -- how to
> > build a RAID filesystem, installing the system using a mirrored
> > root, recovery from a failed hard drive, interaction with GEOM under
> > 5.x, etc. That's not to mention related things like ccd(4) or
> > atacontrol(8).
>=20
> And, coincidentally (or not), these details are precisely the sort of
> thing most of us would never bother to store in our heads, since it's
> right there in the manpages or the handbooks or the websites and can
> be pulled out in moments when we need it. It's the background
> knowledge and the context we need to "know", so we'll know where to
> look and know how to understand the details of setting up one
> implementation.
Absolutely true -- although having gone through the process of finding
out this stuff one time as a learning exercise, you do gain a sense of
what is actually possible and tend to remember more about /where/ and
/how/ to find the fiddling details. It's the big secret of education,
certainly at University level or above: you don't learn what you are
taught, so much as you learn how to teach yourself what you need.
It's also the case that the vast majority of what is done with *BSD is
not *BSD specific. Big software packages like Apache or Samba or
MySQL run on practically any platform. Perhaps the conclusion should
be that teaching someone to administer *BSD is not hugely useful; but
using *BSD to teach someone Systems Administration -- now that is a
different kettle of fish.
=20
> > Going beyond mere regurgitation of facts and starting to do useful
> > problem solving requires integration of knowledge from many such
> > modules.
>=20
> And is terribly difficult to test on a small scale, in much the same
> way that a map containing all the detail is the same size as the
> territory. This is why experience must, practically (wet dreams of
> Personnel personnel to the contrary), always trump examination or
> training or certification. And, of course, if you COULD make the test
> sufficiently hard and sufficiently realistic to substitute for
> experience, you'd need the experience to pass the test, making it
> useless for what seems to be the purpose of certifications as
> alternatives to experience.
>=20
> You might say there's a little problem there 8-}
I don't think certification should ever be seen as an alternative to
experience. On the whole, I would be violently in agreement with the
sort of qualification you could only get by by having sufficient
experience. If you like, it's the difference between being a
Journeyman and being a Master. Having a series of qualifications
recognising having passed through those various stages is certainly
worthwhile.
On the other hand, having a bit of paper with "FreeBSD" written on it
could well be the key to getting past the sorts of HR departments who
haven't got a clue what FreeBSD actually is. You know, and I know
that anyone with experience of managing any sort of unixoid system[1]
can adapt to a different unixoid system within a very short time and
be very productive. Most hiring departments nowadays seem not to
understand that: they just want to see specific key words on the CV.
Cheers,
Matthew
[1] By which I mean Unix or Linux, and more than just fiddling around
with webmin.
--=20
Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 26 The Paddocks
Savill Way
PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey Marlow
Tel: +44 1628 476614 Bucks., SL7 1TH UK
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