If you're all about the farming metaphors, you could just say that system administration is "data husbandry"
--Matt On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 7:01 PM, Aaron McCaleb <[email protected]> wrote: > My point with the "farmer" analogy is that, though the technologies > with which they work are very different, the requirements and > challenges of the two professions have striking similarities: > > 1) (Viewing a farm as a "system") Both are responsible for > maintaining systems that are an amalgamation of related, but distinct > components. > 2) Both are multidisciplinary professions, with a variety of ways > that the practitioner may perform and/or delegate each of the many > roles they must provide in order to maintain the systems. > 3) The lifecycle of each system is not time-limited. As consumers > requirements and demands evolve, each practitioner must continuously > evolve the system to comply with new and changed requirements. > 4) Perhaps as a result of the preceding three points, each profession > requires a broad base of knowledge with rapid adaptability to new > challenges and technologies. > > If the preceding similarities are accepted, then a "farmer" can be > vaguely, but quite accurately described as: > > "A farmer, farm worker, or farmhand, is a person employed to maintain > and operate a farm." > > That is no more or less accurate than the analogous wikipedia > definition for "system administrator". > > But that is _not_ the way "farmer is defined on Wikipedia. It is defined as: > > "A farmer is a person, engaged in agriculture, who raises living > organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock > husbandry and growing crops such as produce and grain." > > Yes, there is still so much more to farming than that. But that > doesn't suffer nearly the same vagueness as the prior suggestion. So > perhaps the definition of a farmer might be a better "model" for > building a more descriptive definition for "system administrator". > > --Aaron > > On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 16:05, Michael Ryder <[email protected]> wrote: >> I had this long reply typed out, but just tossed it because after reading >> and rereading your reply, I'm not sure where you are going with the farm >> analogy. >> >> Mike >> >> On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 4:23 PM, Aaron McCaleb <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 12:37, Michael Ryder <[email protected]> wrote: >>> > For example... one definition might look like this: "A System >>> > Administrator >>> > is one who manages computers and/or networks on a continuing basis to >>> > support the needs of the users of those systems. In addition, the SA >>> > may >>> > also be responsible for these other roles for their systems: design, >>> > implementation, change control, new technology evaluation, >>> > decommissioning, >>> > etc." >>> >>> "...on a continuing basis..." caught my eye. In some ways, this might >>> parallel the same ideas as farming. >>> >>> "A farmer is one who maintains and operates a farm." ...might be an >>> accurate description. But is that how they would describe their role >>> or their profession? >>> >>> Maybe: (Generalizing "farmer" to include "rancher", "farmhand", etc.) >>> "A farmer maintains and operates a system that provides consumable >>> products which are naturally born or germinated, grown to a specified >>> maturity, harvested at regular intervals and processed in a continuous >>> cycle." >>> >>> In fact, this is the first sentence of the Wikipedia definition of a >>> farmer: >>> >>> -----------snip----------------- >>> "A farmer is a person, engaged in agriculture, who raises living >>> organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock >>> husbandry and growing crops such as produce and grain." >>> -----------/snip-------------- >>> >>> What, are more specific possibilities of tasks and roles a farmer can >>> perform? It would depened on the day. One day, a farmer might be >>> maintaining and repairing diesel engines. The next day he may be >>> evaluation proposals for a product containment/conveyance solution. >>> And on still other days, he may be training animals, constructing >>> timber frame buildings, or excavating a small water reservoir. >>> >>> Some farmers may do all of these things, themselves. Some farmers may >>> procure other service providers to do some or all of this work. (For >>> instance, ranchers often hire other "service providers" to bale, haul >>> and stack hay in the ranchers' hay barns.) As long as they are >>> directly involved in operational decisions, wouldn't we say that both >>> are still farmers? >>> >>> A final thought: a farm is never "complete". A farmer doesn't create >>> and somehow package a farm and then "deliver" it to a customer. The >>> farm's infrastructure, and the process by which the products are >>> produced, are continuously evolving. >>> >>> >>> >>> Similarly, "computer systems" that a system administrator "maintains >>> and operates" are also continuously evolving as the demand and >>> expected utility of the "products" also evolve. System administrators >>> also can wear many hats, though no two system administrators will >>> necessarily swap between the same set of hats. >>> >>> It seems this analogy can easily be further extended, but I don't want >>> to risk going too far. >> >> >> >> -- >> http://www.lostinthedetails.com >> > _______________________________________________ > 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/ > -- LITTLE GIRL: But which cookie will you eat FIRST? COOKIE MONSTER: Me think you have misconception of cookie-eating process. _______________________________________________ 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/
