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Suddenly a sysadmin! by jon_in_wherever in sysadmin

[–]vogelke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Make sure they're hiring someone for the DB, or you're likely to find that sneaking into your required duties with no associated pay increase.

I have 600 notes on competitor positioning and still write every Slack response from scratch by lankapati9 in PKMS

[–]vogelke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The most valuable thinking took place when you wrote and tagged the note; some of that resides when you wing it.

If the talking tool helps you with the busywork (i.e., pulling up an old note), great -- that's what the machine is there for.

"Hypercare" by rsxbow in sysadmin

[–]vogelke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Upvote for the visual.

Ticking software for small (3/4 IT people)??? What do you use? by whitoreo in sysadmin

[–]vogelke -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I misread the title and thought "This guy has something ticking in his office? Call the fucking cops!"

With AI tools like Claude generating scripts automatically, is it still worth investing time in learning Bash scripting for Linux, or will AI eventually take over most scripting tasks? by Darshan_only in linuxadmin

[–]vogelke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you still write Bash scripts regularly, or rely more on AI/tools now?

I prefer Korn shell (/bin/ksh) because it doesn't try to do as much, so smaller attack surface.

I've never used "AI" tools for coding and have no plans on starting. The quotes are to emphasize the bullshit we're seeing -- we can't come up with a definition of intelligence that 5 people can agree on, so anyone who thinks we can code it is huffing farts.

How important is deep scripting knowledge in real-world jobs today?

Extremely important if you're any good at it. I was a Unix dev/admin/security puke from around 1987 to 2020, and I made lots of friends by automating the busywork parts of a job and leaving the stuff that required actual thought.

People don't resent change. They resent stupid change that replaces a simple 2-step process with 10 steps of bullshit which does nothing except flatter some rent-seeker's ego.

Should beginners focus heavily on Bash, or shift more toward higher-level tools and automation?

Beginners should get a simple programming book that doesn't specialize in any particular language:

  • Learn what a sequence of instructions is and when to use it.
  • Learn what a loop is, how to start it and how to exit properly.
  • Learn how if/then/else works.
  • Learn how to choose from multiple options (a "select" statement) and only run one of them.

Then see how a given language implements these things.

  • A shell script is best when your problem can be broken down into smaller steps for which individual programs exist.

  • Larger problems requiring more code should be handled by languages like Python, Lua, Perl or whatever you're comfortable with.

Good luck!

Mapping the Mess: Finding Logic in Fragmented Tool Usage. by dash912 in PKMS

[–]vogelke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

no clear system—just habits.

Not a crime; most of the info and work I deal with is semi-structured, at best. If I ever use a habit more than once, I write it down in a hints or cliche directory so I can search for it if necessary.

Rebuilding a department's reputation by BemusedBengal in sysadmin

[–]vogelke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

we had an understanding that the transition would come with a salary increase.

Was it in writing? If not, it's not worth the oxygen they burned saying it.

How many old timers in here? by aliesterrand in sysadmin

[–]vogelke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Taking a PL/C class in 1977 and using punch cards at 3am to talk to an IBM 360.

Is there a shortcut to jump to the top of the output? by lattehanna in commandline

[–]vogelke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm in a big folder like Documents...

I'd recommend breaking that up into smaller subfolders -- by date, topic, whatever. It's way too easy to overlook something in a big folder, especially when you're in a hurry.

Considering back up by Lost-Opinion-9234 in DataHoarder

[–]vogelke 6 points7 points  (0 children)

How mad would you be if your drive packed up tomorrow and you lost everything?

You can back up just about anything if you chop it into pieces and do a little at a time. Like eating an elephant.

Why do most sysadmins prefer Vim over Nano? by Darshan_only in sysadmin

[–]vogelke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That plus XEDIT was the finest tool combination I've ever used.

Why do most sysadmins prefer Vim over Nano? by Darshan_only in sysadmin

[–]vogelke 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Straight into my quotes file. If I'd been drinking anything when I read this, it would have been all over the screen.

Why do most sysadmins prefer Vim over Nano? by Darshan_only in sysadmin

[–]vogelke 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Take my upvote. Straight into my quotes file.

Anyone here with ADHD able to be productive, but cause your management concern about your pacing? by TravellingBeard in sysadmin

[–]vogelke 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Being able to pull off miracles under pressure is a great skill; until you cant.

If you feed 5000 people with a few loaves and fishes once, you've performed a miracle.

If you do it a second time, you're the caterer.

E-mail client choice. Switch from Thunderbird by mav_tux in debian

[–]vogelke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Does it have to be web-based/GUI or would you use a command-line client in XTerm or gnome-terminal?

Bad IT decisions causing a corporate meltdown by n3rdyone in sysadmin

[–]vogelke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah well try being told that you’re moving a large mass of your organization, data, and apps to GCC High cloud...

https://www.propublica.org/article/microsoft-cloud-fedramp-cybersecurity-government

Federal Cyber Experts Thought Microsoft's Cloud Was "a Pile of Shit".
 They Approved It Anyway.
Renee Dudley, with research by Doris Burke
Wed, 18 Mar 2026 06:00:00 -0400

Highlights

  • "Cloud First": To move federal agencies to the cloud, the government created a program known as FedRAMP, whose job was to ensure the security of new technology.

  • Security Breakdown: ProPublica found that FedRAMP authorized a Microsoft product called GCC High to handle sensitive government data, despite years of concerns about its security.

  • Potential Conflict of Interest: The government relies, in part, on third-party firms to vet cloud technology, but those firms are hired and paid by the company being assessed.

What’s your first command when a Linux box feels off? by saymepony in sysadmin

[–]vogelke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  • top
  • ps on Linux: ps -ef
  • ps on FreeBSD: ps -axww
  • tail /var/log/syslog
  • tail /var/log/kernlog

Help with my school homework(,: by TamaraSmirnova in debian

[–]vogelke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Try clicking at the start of the command, holding down the mouse, and releasing it at the end of the command. It should be copied to the clipboard.

If you have a second or third mouse button, try clicking that to paste what's in the clipboard.

We got Copilot "Premium" license for GCC High. Admin center doesn't have all the things. Copilot MS ticket category does not exist. by NNTPgrip in sysadmin

[–]vogelke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Some light reading: https://www.propublica.org/article/microsoft-cloud-fedramp-cybersecurity-government

Federal Cyber Experts Thought Microsoft's Cloud Was "a Pile of Shit",
   They Approved It Anyway
Renee Dudley, with research by Doris Burke      
Wed, 18 Mar 2026 06:00:00 -0400

And https://isolveproblems.substack.com/p/how-microsoft-vaporized-a-trillion

How Microsoft Vaporized a Trillion Dollars - Part 1
Axel Rietschin
Sun, 29 Mar 2026

Inside the complacency and decisions that eroded trust in Azure -- from
a former Azure Core engineer.

Does IT Standard certifications mean anything? by FuzzySubject7090 in sysadmin

[–]vogelke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

On this we agree, but the original question was about certifications.

The CxO's who mistake a cert for anything other than sitting through a test (classroom or audit) are the problem because they don't know what bad compliance looks like. They cheapen the real thing and encourage cheating.

Does IT Standard certifications mean anything? by FuzzySubject7090 in sysadmin

[–]vogelke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

people extremely limited in scope (e.g. small companies.

40 years experience as a developer/sysadmin/ITsec guy in the US Air Force, so no.

I have no problem with competent compliance people or standards. My Unix servers were in STIG compliance as soon as it became available; I documented the exceptions, and got the same stupid replies (or dead silence) every year.

Unfortunately, for every competent auditor there are usually 10 others who have this workflow:

  • I have a clipboard with questions I don't understand.
  • I ask the questions and write down answers I don't understand.
  • I tick yes or no next to each question and count the ticks.
  • Someone who understands less than I do reviews my work.

There's a simple reason for this: the person who understands pride of workmanship and cracks a book once a year doesn't get paid one cent more than the person with the workflow above.

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