From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Apr 14 03:43:57 2014 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) (using TLSv1 with cipher ADH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 4A201FBB for ; Mon, 14 Apr 2014 03:43:57 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mx01.qsc.de (mx01.qsc.de [213.148.129.14]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (Client did not present a certificate) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 0DB1B1890 for ; Mon, 14 Apr 2014 03:43:56 +0000 (UTC) Received: from r56.edvax.de (port-92-195-84-247.dynamic.qsc.de [92.195.84.247]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mx01.qsc.de (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 3B8353F8F2; Mon, 14 Apr 2014 05:43:53 +0200 (CEST) Received: from r56.edvax.de (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by r56.edvax.de (8.14.5/8.14.5) with SMTP id s3E3glKr008733; Mon, 14 Apr 2014 05:42:47 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2014 05:42:47 +0200 From: Polytropon To: Mayuresh Kathe Subject: Re: developer be a good administrator too : mandatory? Message-Id: <20140414054247.3e048758.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: <20140414031040.GA816@h61m.kathe.in> References: <20140414031040.GA816@h61m.kathe.in> Organization: EDVAX X-Mailer: Sylpheed 3.1.1 (GTK+ 2.24.5; i386-portbld-freebsd8.2) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.17 Precedence: list Reply-To: Polytropon List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2014 03:43:57 -0000 On Mon, 14 Apr 2014 08:40:41 +0530, Mayuresh Kathe wrote: > the question that's popping up in my mind is; > "is it necessary for a freebsd developer (c89) to also be a > great system administrator?". > > the rationale i've heard is that if you can't handle your > own freebsd system, how are you going to get productive! I can't speak for others, but in my opinion, being a good developer (in regards of server software or application software) often goes hand in hand with being a good system administrator. You need to know about how the server works in order to write proper software, and vice versa, you need to know how software works in order to do your administration work correctly. There may be other "professions" which help you to do a good job: for example, security research, a bit of cryptography, very basic things like reading, thinking and learning (yes, those _are_ important and also _not_ "standard" today anymore!), but also knowledge about system components, such as system design, file systems, process communication, configuration files and so on. The more you know, the better and "balanced" your achievements can be. This will probably set you above others who have a narrow mind and no real attitude to improve. So if your career path has made you a programmer, it will definitely _not_ hurt you to learn about system administration. Operating systems which are open, up to the innermost parts, and which provide excellent documentation and source, can be more help than arbitrary and expensive "courses" which end in a shiny certificate, and burden you with knowledge which is outdated or non-transferable (or both). Learning _fundamentals_ enables you to conclude and learn new things, whereas short-term "knowledge" will probably only be a dead mass that leads you nowhere. Coming back to the phrasing of your question: I would not claim it's "neccessary", but it's definitely helpful, especially in the context of FreeBSD. I'm saying all this from my very individual observations and feelings from the relatively short time of a little bit more tham 25 years in IT. ;-) -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...