Re: Let's get something going here...

On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 15:11:53 -0700, Doug Freyburger <dfreybur@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Dave Hinz <DaveH...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

1. Users seldom describe the problem accurately.

One of the most rewarding challenges of the job is that
users make very random sounding requests. The job of an
engineer isn't to do what users ask but to satisfy user
requirements. That means figuring out from the pattern of
what the user is asking for what it is they are trying to
achieve. It starts out frustrating but by the time the real
solution is delivered the user tends to be educated and
pleased.

Right. Often the question they ask, isn't the question they should be
asking. The trick is to figure out what they really need, because it's
often not what they think they need. The old "Tell me what you're
trying to do, not how you think I should help you do it" problem.

2. If you don't have good backups, you don't have a supportable system.

If you don't keep up with technology the system descends
into an unsupportable state.

Good point but, even with modern machines, if I don't have console
access to a server, it's hard to support. If the vendor has EOSL'd the
hardware or OS, it's hard to support even if I have install media and
spare parts in my basement. And, what was acceptable 10 years ago (not
having mirrored system drives, for instance) in a prod system, just
doesn't cut it in some envoironments today.

So, what say we talk about what makes a system supportable.
Hardware/OS/infrastructure/etc ?

An old joke is that you can tell the pioneers (early adopters)
because they are the ones face down in the ditch with an arrow
sticking out of their corpse. The flip side of that coin is you can
tell the patch-and-upgrade avoiders because when you feel a
bump they are the ones who just got killed when you lapped
them without seeing them coming.

But, how do you get the application owners to give you a window to
patch? If you have ideas on that I'd love to hear it.

Oracle is releasing version 11, and GUIs in UNIX run on X11.
On the one hand it's hilarious how many versions have
happened. On the other hand the original ideas had to have
been extremely good to survive that much evolution.

A lot to be said for continuous improvement. It's always interesting
when I get onto a Solaris 5.5.1 system for instance, and have to play
the "OK what don't I have to work with yet?" game.

.

Relevant Pages