On Sat, Sep 17, 2011 at 2:37 PM, Emmanuel Noobadmin <centos.admin at gmail.com> wrote: > On 9/16/11, m.roth at 5-cent.us <m.roth at 5-cent.us> wrote: >> Remember, even among those who studied, a) half of them were in the bottom >> of their class, and b) too many are True Believers in the latest >> programming (not the P word!) paradigm; y'know, recursion is the answer to >> *everything*, or OO, or.... > > Part of the problem is sometimes otherwise intelligent customers who > heard of the latest buzzword be it XML/Ruby/Web 2.0/HTML5 start > demanding that you use it for their application regardless of whether > it's relevant or if they really know what it is about . If you try to > educate them any other way, they start thinking you're outdated. Well, you can always lie to those people. :-) I had a situation once when a client asked me to implement something fairly trivial, but insisted that I use C++ (overkill would be an understatement here...). Namely, they heard from some "expert" that all "real programming" is done in C++... Naturally, I implemented the solution as a bash script, and just told them "sure, no problem, it is pure C++". They had no interest (nor the knowledge) to check it, and everyone was happy. :-) I tend to develop a relationship with clients where they trust my decisions, so lying to them for their own benefit now and then doesn't hurt, and I don't consider it too unethical. I also remember the situation where one client received that typical "somefile.exe is a virus" hoax e-mail (Windows users, of course), and insisted that I check and "disinfect" all machines on the premises. There was no point in trying to explain that such e-mails are hoaxes and that the issue is nonexistent. Instead, I just told him "sure, I'll get right on it", and then did absolutely nothing about it. The guy didn't know how to check the presence of a file himself, so tomorrow when he asked me about "the threat", I just replied that all machines have been disinfected and there is nothing to worry about anymore. He went on to commend my prompt reaction to others... ;-) There are lots of such anecdotes. Being a sysadmin is a social skill as much as a technical one. ;-) Best, :-) Marko