In a few minutes, it will be July 28th on the West Coast, marking the start of national Sysadmin Appreciation Day. This is a fine idea. Sysadmins are the secret masters of the world, the tireless workers in the data-centers who quietly keep the Internet and its constituent PCs up and running. Sysadmins get more off-hour phone-calls than surgeons; for that matter, a good sysadmin is better to have around than a surgeon.
Boing Boing is blessed with a fine sysadmin indeed: Ken Snider, the extrodinary gentleman who keeps our machines online through slashdottings, DOS attacks, (my) idiotic posting of large media files, and the tribulations and vagaries of a data-center. He’s one of Boing Boing’s vital “fifth Beatles,” a guy who makes all this possible, every single day.
Sincere and bottomless thanks Ken, and happy Sysadmins Day to you and every other admin who’s toiled under the desks and in the crawlspaces of the world.
Cory’s podcast story “When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth”: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6
Update: The UK Unix Users’ Group has a great homage to sysadmins in the style of Gilbert and Sullivan. Likewise, Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie performed a classic sysadmin song at the ThinkHDI Conference in Vegas at 2005. (Thanks, Miss Cellania and Sam!)