Mike, There's nothing wrong with the wikipedia definition at least among ourselves, although I would argue that "maintain and operate" is a bit narrow, and should also include "design and implement".
But in my opinion, the layperson still really understand what is meant by a "computer system", or a "network". So the wikipedia definition, while 100% accurate (95% if you agree that "design and implement" are missing...), still doesn't explain who we are, what we do or what our viewpoint is. If a person tells you, "I'm a stone mason", you have a pretty good understanding of what they do. Most all of us know what masonry is and what it involves. You can see how masonry is put together. Masonry in construction is a very visible thing that requires no interpretation. If a person tells you "I'm in management", you have a pretty good idea of what they do, because everyone has interacted with a manager...not so true of a system administrator. Yet a layperson can stand over a system administrator's shoulder for a full 40 hour week, and unless the system administrator explains what is going on, that layperson still will likely have no real idea of how a system administrator differs from a programmer, a web designer or much else. (Although I wonder if the number and type of toys on the desks might differentiate us?) In fact, that's probably a good concrete example of what could be called "working in the abstract" (Or that sentence could be complete B.S. and doublespeak, but I went there anyway because I couldn't resist the pun.) Where does that put us? Maybe system administrators don't have a problem. Maybe "computer systems" need to form their own organization to ensure they are better represented. (Skynet, anyone?) (Not intending to be glib with your suggestion, Michael. The temptations for a couple of jokes were there and my will was weak. But as I mentioned, I think we need to expand from there because "computer system and/or network" is too vague for a general layperson.) On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 10:26, Michael Ryder <[email protected]> wrote: > > Are we trying to reinvent the wheel? If not, then is there anything wrong > with the definition of System Administrator at Wikipedia? > > "A system administrator, systems administrator, or sysadmin, is a person > employed to maintain and operate a computer system and/or network." > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_administrator > > If that isn't sufficient, then perhaps it can serve as a starting point for > fine-tuning? > > Mike _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] https://lists.lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators http://lopsa.org/
