> a sysadmins *job* to know who to call about their systems whether a
> SUN, HP, DEC, IBM or whatever just as it is IMHO the sales rep's
> responsibility to their customer when they sell/lease you a
> platform to know who to call when a problem arises.
How exactly are we supposed to accomplish this? *OF COURSE* we all know
who to call at the vendor to report or inquire about security problems.
But what if (as often happens) the vendor is unresponsive?
> I have lately seen too many so-called "Help Desks" that are nothing
> more than minimum wage drones with a list of "politically correct"
> answer sheets whose job seems to be to keep the customer away from
> anyone who actually knows anything.
I agree, and I also assume it is not your intention to imply that anyone
participating in this discussion fits that mold.
> Lines of communications are essential to this kind of a job and people
> do not develop such lines by lurking in the background.
Yes, but developing the lines of communication you are talking about here
takes *time*. Hell, I've been a sysadmin for 11 years. I have advanced,
along with the rest of the UNIX world, from v6 to Slowaris. I used to
be a member of the infamous USENET "backbone cabal". And yet, I don't
know anybody I can call who will tell me how to exploit the latest hole
in sendmail. Are you going to try and tell me I'm not good at my job??
Get on your soapbox all you like, but I believe your expectations are
unrealistic to say the least. You can't develop contacts without becoming
a competent sysadmin first, but here you appear to be saying that you aren;'t
a competent sysadmin unless you've developed contacts. Classic Catch-22.
You must work for the military :-)
> Bottom line: one person's need does not equate to an obligation on the part
> of someone else.
OK, in that I agree. No one is *obligated* to reveal what they know. However,
those who look down their noses at the less experienced sysadmins and say
"read the source, anybody can figure this out" are not helping matters much
either.
--Greg
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