Whenever myself or one of the other sys-admins finds a poorly documented or previously unknown command or script that fixes something someone will say: "Yeah, that system was FUBAR until [insert name] found a new incantation."
Also, if a server draws blood from an SA we take that as a sign that the system will be trouble-free.... Magic, voodoo, santaria; it's all good! We made the mistake of NOT sacrificing a chicken when we opened our new datacenter two years ago. Been paying the price ever since! Christian Skofteland [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, February 22, 2003 2:25 AM Subject: Taking this Waaaay OT: Re: Waving chickens > Christian wondered: > > What is it about IT and chickens? > > Old parallels between CS and magic (or, as some gnarly bits > of CS get labelled, "PFM" (Pure ___ing Magic); for some reason > (I'm not sure why) most of the metaphors wound up having a > southern flavour (think Voodoo or Santeria): in particular, > getting a SCSI chain to work reliably is supposed to involve > walking around it in the right direction holding a chicken. > It might just be because the visuals work out better with > less description than bits borrowed from other traditions, > and because the other quickly-recognizeable imagery for > non-practitioners is Shakespearean -- and it's easier to > imagine a field service engineer carrying a chicken and > various colours of candles in his or her toolkit than it is > to make up what he or she would do with a Big Steaming > Cauldron on a service call. > > Back in the server room, on the other hand, I can see where > the cauldron would come in handy. (Think of the BOfH > crossed with Shakespeare's witches or something ominously > Disneyesque <shudder>>.) But the programmers are probably > Hermetic or hodgepodge, except for the ones who are Pagan. > > Hmm. Which branch of CS/IT would be Thelemites? And do I > even want to go there? > > -- Glenn >
