[SGVLUG] What is a Linux Admin? What should I learn/know?

[David Lawyer]

On Thu, Mar 26, 2009 at 01:27:26PM -0700, Rae Yip wrote:
> 
> An possibly overused metaphor is the plumber; a good plumber is paid
> pretty well even though all the parts are "standard" and the tasks can
> theoretically be done by anyone. We don't ask our employees to fix
> their own toilets.
	            
I've been doing my own plumbing and a lot of parts, both old and new,
are far from standard.  For example, this house used what I thought
was non-standard thin sewer pipe of slightly smaller diameter.  But it
turned out to just be defective pipe.  How do you replace leaking
sections of it?  How toxic is the lead pipe used for various waste
connections?   Also there's the problem of soldering joints to connect
old thin lead pipe to newer pipe.  If you tried to use a clamp it
would crush the lead pipe.  It's not easy to just replace it since it
was originally heated with a blowtorch and bent into custom shapes to
conform to the house.	 

Once upon a time all faucets used standard rubber washers to control
the flow of water.  Today there doesn't seem to be any standard and
there are a large number of types of valves, some of which it's nearly
impossible to find parts for.  Unfortunately, many plumbers don't try
to figure out how to repair such cases.  Furthermore, some unscrupulous
plumbers will tell people that their faucet with a standard rubber
washer is outdated and may replace it with one that is very not
standard and that may not be able to be fixed when it starts to drip.

There are a lot of people hired to do plumbing work for apartments,
etc. that are not very well paid.  And a resort I once worked at hired
and old man who was homeless, let him sleep in the storeroom, paid him
a low salary, and had him work as a handyman and dishwasher.  I was the
cook and he and I repaired the resort's water supply pipeline.

So small companies that have employees that can work on plumbing may
ask them to do so.  Likewise for sys admin.  Many employees have their
own PC on which they are the sys. admin. so they may be able to handle
some computer problems at work.

			David Lawyer