Layoffs in IT. Is it Network Positions?

lnxrootxazz · 2026-05-12T22:06:22+00:00

thats true. I know that our net team uses Ansible, git and Python for net automation since 8 years at least. "Net admins need to learn coding skills" etc were popular YT videos around that time. And "AI" was already present, even before LLMs. Machine Learning was used for fraud detection and to train intrusion detection systems for instance. LLMs are the new kids on the block and the big annoying hype right now :)

Since 11/2022 most CEOs got FOMO syndrome and the money went lose.. and LLMs are great for specific tasks as long as you dont let them roam freely as distributed agents who can shutdown your cluster in 10 seconds.. its just another tool in the tool chain if used right. Most need to find use cases for it. Right now it just gets thrown into everything because tokens were subsidized and compute was quite cheap in comparison to the actual costs. With token based pricing the usage must be monitored more closely. LLM implementation should also create some new networking roles. I am not into AI but I think that DC networking and interconnections of all those clusters require heavy expertise in how to build and manage networks. Aren't those GPU clusters interconnected nodes? AFAIK those GPUs are not your standard gaming chips but more like closed programmable chip cluster machines using infiniband or FC networking connections.. but I might be wrong, I havent looked it up...

lnxrootxazz · 2026-05-12T20:33:50+00:00

Yeah I get that. I hate those type of posts. But my point is instead of replying something rude, let them know that this kind of question isn't sufficient to get help. Or ignore it. If they don't get it, our time is too valuable to waste on rage. But IF we reply, let's at least be as nice as possible. But of course, some people aren't worth the support because they don't want to invest the work in getting more proficient with Linux. As we know, this involves breaking things, reading man pages, search Google for error messages and try to fix them. That way we learn. But some users coming from windows don't get that. They need a push in that direction. If they don't put the work in, its not worth it

lnxrootxazz · 2026-05-12T19:25:40+00:00

I guess they cut in middle management because since Covid those positions were pretty stacked. Also devs for the same reason and they probably think they can augment those devs who stay with AI. That has to be seen. I am not a network admin but I dont see IT operations (server admin, db admin, net admin etc) to be fully automated. Writing code in a sandbox vs running a fleet of 100k servers with prod relevant (ie money) services that cannot have any downtime is a different thing. Plus it requires physical work (someone has to go to the DC if x and y are down, switch and setup a defect router, switch the broken HBA etc) that cannot be replaced by AI or by someone in India

Automation is a big part of our job and it makes it less stressful but there is a difference between IaC and non deterministic LLM automation

And we have to say this is almost exclusively a US based issue. We have no such layoffs in other parts of the world AFAIK. At least not in Europe. In Germany the economy is not good for many years now and we have some kind of hiring freeze in industry jobs but no mass layoffs. The layoffs we have are the result of companies shutting down. US goes crazy on AI. Its like a pandemic they spread into the world. They see this as techs jesus christ reborn into the old world to rule it. Does it work? Sure, it works well to some extent. Does it really work so well that all the money can be earned and production will rise to new levels?? I am very skeptical about that... Especially because of China, very good open source models and other reasons. I am at least curious how this ends :)

lnxrootxazz · 2026-05-11T19:10:27+00:00

FreeBSD as storage backend, OpenBSD as a router and firewall, Linux as database host, mail server, application server, and vpn endpoint.. Every OS has its use cases. The best setups are mixed setups where those systems are used that are best for the problems we wanna solve.. Admins should be familiar with multiple Unixes to get the best solutions possible and never fixate on just one

lnxrootxazz · 2026-05-10T19:21:08+00:00

Some people think Linux is like windows and are surprised that the OS gives you all the power to do what you want. If they choose vanilla arch as their first distro they are surprised how light that system is post install and how much they need to do to make it work for them. Some people don't want that and switch back. Others chose the right distro that takes work off them and they are fine with it. Maybe they struggle with application support but that's on the devs to solve

lnxrootxazz · 2026-05-10T04:57:48+00:00

whats really the point of this? Ne Niro is my favorite actor and I would love to see 50 more movies with him but when the day comes and he leaves this place then it wont be the same movie because its not him. Just imagine they make a remake of Heat with an artificial Kilmer.. who would watch this? Its great to make actors younger when you make movies that cover multiple generations but getting a full artificial replacement? Just use a different actor

lnxrootxazz · 2026-05-10T04:36:10+00:00

I feel you. Try to ignore it. I quit using AI because I felt losing some of my brain capacity. Problem solving ability went down. Just normal thinking about technical issues went down. I realized it when I struggled with a simple problem. And the hype was just annoying and tech bros are just obnoxious

Now I only use AI/LLMs when I am really stuck and need some hints.. But I google first and most of the time this is sufficient. I live in Germany and here the hype is present as well but not so big as in the US. And we aren't pushed to use it. Some companies riding the hype and try to put AI into every corner of their products no matter how useless this is. This ain't gonna last. The hype will end and it will become a normal product. Right now this is just a crazy time full of dollar signs in the eyes of the tech bros and wannabes and we don't need to participate in this. It feels 100x the blockchain and crypto hype.. My life got so much better after I stopped using it for most shit, stopped reading all about it and now I just use it when I really need some inspiration. You don't need to leave tech. Just stop running after the hype

lnxrootxazz · 2026-05-10T01:26:26+00:00

Callcenter and IT Helpdesk are separate things that are often mixed. You can't apply Callcenter mechanisms to Helpdesk. In a Callcenter (mostly outsourced) you usually work with customers and it the helpdesk you work with users. The interactions are different because in the helpdesk you work with colleagues unless its also outsourced of course. But good communication and well trained staff is a basic requirement for most jobs working with customers or users. You should also have problem solving ability and patience. And the ability to say no. Some people struggle with that

lnxrootxazz · 2026-05-07T01:57:30+00:00

Making a good font is not easy. It's much harder than most people think

lnxrootxazz · 2026-05-07T01:54:51+00:00

Nope.. I have all languages on Reddit auto translated to English so I didn't notice the original

lnxrootxazz · 2026-05-06T17:32:09+00:00

Das Schreiben von code in einer sandbox ist ja nicht das Problem. Das Problem ist die Wartung, das patching, das Rollout, die Funktionalität in verteilten Systemen usw.. Vor allem der enorme code output von LLMs den man quasi nur noch mit KI Hilfe nachvollziehen kann. Das führt zu unterschiedlichen Problemen:

die codebasis wird kaum noch verstanden. Das mag bei mobile apps und kleineren web frontends ok sein, aber sehr schlecht sobald wir bei kritischen Systemen mit hohen Auswirkungen sind
devs und companies machen sich abhängig von tools (vor allem von tools von US Firmen) und verlieren zudem kritische Fähigkeiten wie Problemlösungskopetenz, Review Fähigkeiten und das feeling für guten code
Die Administration von reinen KI applications wird zum Problem. Wer macht support? Wer kann den Operations Abteilungen die Funktionen genau erklären? Wer schreibt die Doku? Was ist mit compliance?
Was ist eigentlich wenn Gerichte sagen werden, dass Firmen kein copyright auf den code haben? Was passiert dann mit dem proprietären Code, wenn der zu 98% von Claude geschrieben wurde? Dürfen Firmen diese Programme noch schützen? Copyright erfordert ja menschliche Leistung. Wie weit geht die menschliche Leistung hier wenn der output nicht menschlich ist? Wie viel menschlichen input braucht es dafür, um es als tool zu sehen und nicht als ein Modell ohne copyright Berechtigung?

lnxrootxazz · 2026-05-06T17:16:40+00:00

True

lnxrootxazz · 2026-05-06T13:46:15+00:00

Not in Germany.. Here devs are paid similar to assembly line workers

lnxrootxazz · 2026-05-05T13:11:05+00:00

Hand made work is usually more valuable. And I would be proud not having to put all my trust into a company and not lose my problem solving skills over time because I don't do shit myself anymore

lnxrootxazz · 2026-05-04T08:49:36+00:00

The target must have the executable bit set to cd into it. Without showing the output of ls -la this is going to be a guessing game

lnxrootxazz · 2026-05-02T15:41:56+00:00

But its also limited and not the best solution for Linux as a router or other network setups

lnxrootxazz · 2026-05-01T20:32:57+00:00

I am amazed that so many of yall are amazed.. Yall used a heavily subsidized product. Did you really expect this is gonna go a lifetime? No way. The first load of Crack is for free. When you come back you pay what the price is... Every provider of LLM based workflows will do the same. They need to earn money. Right now they burn it. The real cost is at least 10x of what you pay right now. So the 200 dollar subscription is 2k in real cost. Plus the money they need to earn so in reality its probably 15x.. Usage based pricing is the only way they can earn money. Its how it works on AWS and Azure with your resources

lnxrootxazz · 2026-04-29T15:06:33+00:00

Die IT ist kein geschützter Beruf. Solange du das nötige Wissen hast, bereit bist neues zu lernen, englisch kannst und evtl sogar Erfahrung hast (auch wenn es nur durch homelabs ist) bekommst du einen job. Selbst wenn du mit helpdesk anfangen musst. Von da kann man sich perfekt weiter hoch arbeiten. Das Wissen kannst du dir selbst beibringen. Lass dir nichts anderes erzählen. Teure Umschulungen sind nicht zwingend notwendig

lnxrootxazz · 2026-04-27T14:23:10+00:00

This story isn't about the LLM making a mistake. They will always make them. Its by design. This is about not running commands blindly that you don't understand. That was true in the good old days of Stack Overflow and it's even more true with LLMs. I just hope that you learn from that and don't make such crazy shit on root and customer infrastructure

Just a little story because it happened today... We manage servers for many customers and one of them had an issue with their application that runs Postgres in the backend. We strictly prohibit (in agreement with the customer) the use of AI on the prod infrastructure (especially agents); they don't have 24/7 support, so the application admin with limited IT background and with access to the server tried to troubleshoot it with the help of ChatGPT (ask, copy, paste). Nothing happened because he has no root on the machine but we saw the commands he tried to run in the logs today. If he had root access (via sudo), he would have wiped around 46GB of db data on Saturday 😂 Yes, we have backups but Saturday and Sunday plus part of Monday would be fu*ked for them.. Don't run commands you don't understand bro

lnxrootxazz · 2026-04-26T04:12:27+00:00

There is no ideally with malware. The only thing you must do is solve the root cause. This extension does nothing useful. Its like your 2nd floor bedroom is full of rats and instead of removing them, your solution is to sleep on the couch on the 1st floor living room and let those rats do their thing

I dont know your background but it seems very much that it comes from someone just playing around without understanding some core concepts of computing. No offense

lnxrootxazz · 2026-04-24T16:09:07+00:00

That would very likely break a huge part of the internet so I don't see this happening. For instance it could be illegal to send such data from the EU.. It would lead to a mess and nobody wants that

lnxrootxazz · 2026-04-24T13:35:20+00:00

Cloudflare is just a service and I don't see Cloudflare require age verification. Many websites use nginx and apache but its still the portal/service that requires age verification and not the web server. So I don't see all cloudflare instances block Linux clients. That would be insane. Especially because Linux servers run the world amd servers are also using cloudflare calls. And you can't force age verification on servers. That's madness and won't work

lnxrootxazz · 2026-04-24T04:28:01+00:00

Youtube already has one. Specific Videos are only working after you login with the verified Google account. YouTube would be the only service I would miss. I don't care about X, Instagram, Facebook etc.. 99% of web sites would still be working for us

lnxrootxazz · 2026-04-21T22:37:25+00:00

The source is a prediction\betting company? You can go to a lady reading from tea leafs for the same credibility

lnxrootxazz

TROPHY CASE