KNOW YOUR UNIX SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR-- A FIELD GUIDE

There are four major species of Unix sysad :

The TECHNICAL THUG
Usually a systems programmer who has been forced into system administration; writes scripts in a polyglot of the Bourne shell, sed, C, awk, perl, and APL.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FASCIST
Usually a retentive drone (or rarely, a harridan ex-secretary) who has been forced into system administration.

The MANIAC
Usually an aging cracker who discovered that neither the Mossad nor Cuba are willing to pay a living wage for computer espionage. Fell into system administration; occasionally approaches major competitors with indesp schemes.

The IDIOT
Usually a cretin, morpohodite, or old COBOL programmer selected to be the system administrator by a committee of cretins, morphodites, and old COBOL programmers.

How to identify your system administrator ?


SITUATION: Low disk space.

The TECHNICAL THUG
Writes a suite of scripts to monitor disk usage, maintain a database of historic disk usage, predict future disk usage via least squares regression analysis, identify users who are more than a standard deviation over the mean, and send mail to the offending parties. Places script in cron. Disk usage does not change, since disk-hogs, by nature, either ignore script-generated mail, or file it away in triplicate.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FASCIST
Puts disk usage policy in motd. Uses disk quotas. Allows no exceptions, thus crippling development work. Locks accounts that go over quota.

The MANIAC
# cd /home
# rm -rf `du -s * | sort -rn | head -1 | awk '{print $2}'`;

The IDIOT
# cd /home
# cat `du -s * | sort -rn | head -1 | awk '{ printf "%s/*\n", $2}'` | compress

SITUATION: Excessive CPU usage.

The TECHNICAL THUG
Writes a suite of scripts to monitor processes, maintain a database of CPU usage, identify processes more than a standard deviation over the norm, and renice offending processes. Places script in cron. Ends up renicing the production database into oblivion, bringing operations to a grinding halt, much to the delight of the xtrek freaks.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FASCIST
Puts CPU usage policy in motd. Uses CPU quotas. Locks accounts that go over quota. Allows no exceptions, thus crippling development work, much to the delight of the xtrek freaks.

The MANIAC
# kill -9 `ps -augxww | sort -rn +8 -9  | head -1 | awk '{print $2}'`

The IDIOT
# compress -f `ps -augxww | sort -rn +8 -9  | head -1 | awk '{print $2}'`

SITUATION: New account creation.

The TECHNICAL THUG
Writes perl script that creates home directory, copies in incomprehensible default environment, and places entries in /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, and /etc/group. (By hand, NOT with passmgmt.) Slaps on setuid bit; tells a nearby secretary to handle new accounts. Usually, said secretary is still dithering over the difference between 'enter' and 'return'; and so, no new accounts are ever created.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FASCIST
Puts new account policy in motd. Since people without accounts cannot read the motd, nobody ever fulfills the bureaucratic requirements; and so, no new accounts are ever created.

The MANIAC
"If you're too stupid to break in and create your own account, I don't want you on the system. We've got too many goddamn sh*t-for-brains a**holes on this box anyway."

The IDIOT
# cd /home; mkdir "Bob's home directory"
# echo "Bob Simon:gandalf:0:0::/dev/tty:compress -f" > /etc/passwd

SITUATION: Root disk fails.

The TECHNICAL THUG
Repairs drive. Usually is able to repair filesystem from boot monitor. Failing that, front-panel toggles microkernel in and starts script on neighboring machine to load binary boot code into broken machine, reformat and reinstall OS. Lets it run over the weekend while he goes mountain climbing.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FASCIST
Begins investigation to determine who broke the drive. Refuses to fix system until culprit is identified and charged for the equipment.

The MANIAC, large system
Rips drive from system, uses sledgehammer to smash same to flinders. Calls manufacturer, threatens pets. Abuses field engineer while they put in a new drive and reinstall the OS.

The MANIAC, small system
Rips drive from system, uses ball-peen hammer to smash same to flinders. Calls Requisitions, threatens pets. Abuses bystanders while putting in new drive and reinstalling OS.

The IDIOT
Doesn't notice anything wrong.

SITUATION: Poor network response.

The TECHNICAL THUG
Writes scripts to monitor network, then rewires entire machine room, improving response time by 2%. Shrugs shoulders, says, "I've done all I can do," and goes mountain climbing.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FASCIST
Puts network usage policy in motd. Calls up Berkeley and AT&T, badgers whoever answers for network quotas. Tries to get xtrek freaks fired.

The MANIAC
Every two hours, pulls ethernet cable from wall and waits for connections to time out.

The IDIOT
# compress -f /dev/en0

SITUATION: User questions.

The TECHNICAL THUG
Hacks the code of emacs' doctor-mode to answer new users questions. Doesn't bother to tell people how to start the new "guru-mode", or for that matter, emacs.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FASCIST
Puts user support policy in motd. Maintains queue of questions. Answers them when he gets a chance, often within two weeks of receipt of the proper form.

The MANIAC
Screams at users until they go away. Sometimes barters knowledge for powerful drink and/or sycophantic adulation.

The IDIOT
Answers all questions to best of his knowledge until the user realizes few UNIX systems support punched cards or JCL.

SITUATION: Stupid user questions.

The TECHNICAL THUG
Answers question in hex, binary, postfix, and/or French until user gives up and goes away.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FASCIST
Locks user's account until user can present documentation demonstrating their qualification to use the machine.

The MANIAC
# cat >> ~luser/.cshrc
alias vi 'rm \!*;unalias vi;grep -v BoZo ~/.cshrc > ~/.z; mv -f ~/.z ~/.cshrc'
^D

The IDIOT
Answers all questions to best of his knowledge. Recruits user to system administration team.

SITUATION: Process accounting management.

The TECHNICAL THUG
Ignores packaged accounting software; trusts scripts to sniff out any problems & compute charges.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FASCIST
Devotes 75% of disk space to accounting records owned by root and chmod'ed 000.

The MANIAC
Laughs fool head off at very mention of accounting.

The IDIOT
# lpr /etc/wtmp /usr/adm/paact

SITUATION: Religious war, BSD vs. System V.

The TECHNICAL THUG
BSD. Crippled on System V boxes.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FASCIST
System V. Horrified by the people who use BSD. Places frequent calls to DEA.

The MANIAC
Prefers BSD, but doesn't care as long as HIS processes run quickly.

The IDIOT
# cd c:

SITUATION: Religious war, System V vs. AIX

The TECHNICAL THUG
Weeps.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FASCIST
AIX-- doesn't much care for the OS, but loves the jackboots.

The MANIAC
System V, but keeps AIX skills up, knowing full well how much Big Financial Institutions love IBM...

The IDIOT
AIX.

SITUATION: Balky printer daemons.

The TECHNICAL THUG
Rewrites lpd in FORTH.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FASCIST
Puts printer use policy in motd. Calls customer support every time the printer freezes. Tries to get user who submitted the most recent job fired.

The MANIAC
Writes script that kills all the daemons, clears all the print queues, and maybe restarts the daemons. Runs it once a hour from cron.

The IDIOT
# kill -9 /dev/lp ; /dev/lp &

SITUATION: OS upgrade.

The TECHNICAL THUG
Reads source code of new release, takes only what he likes.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FASCIST
Instigates lawsuit against the vendor for having shipped a product with bugs in it in the first place.

The MANIAC
# uptime
1:33pm  up 19 days, 22:49,  167 users,  load average: 6.49, 6.45, 6.31
# wall
Well, it's upgrade time.  Should take a few hours.  And good luck on that
5:00 deadline, guys!  We're all pulling for you!
^D

The IDIOT
# dd if=/dev/rmt8 of=/vmunix

SITUATION: Balky mail.

The TECHNICAL THUG
Rewrites sendmail.cf from scratch. Rewrites sendmail in SNOBOL. Hacks kernel to implement file locking. Hacks kernel to implement "better" semaphores. Rewrites sendmail in assembly. Hacks kernel to...

The ADMINISTRATIVE FASCIST
Puts mail use policy in motd. Locks accounts that go over mail use quota. Keeps quota low enough that people go back to interoffice mail, thus solving problem.

The MANIAC
# kill -9 `ps -augxww | grep sendmail | awk '{print $2}'`
# rm -f /usr/spool/mail/*
# wall
Mail is down.  Please use interoffice mail until we have it back up.
^D
# write max
I've got my boots and backpack.  Ready to leave for Mount Tam?
^D

The IDIOT
# echo "HELP!" | mail tech_support.AT.vendor.com%kremvax%bitnet!BIFF!!!

SITUATION: Users want phone list application.

The TECHNICAL THUG
Writes RDBMS in perl and Smalltalk. Users give up and go back to post-it notes.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FASCIST
Oracle. Users give up and go back to post-it notes.

The MANIAC
Tells the users to use flat files and grep, the way God meant man to keep track of phone numbers. Users give up and go back to post-it notes.

The IDIOT
% dd ibs=80 if=/dev/rdisk001s7 | grep "Fred"

Typical .cshrc file

The TECHNICAL THUG
Longer than eight kilobytes. Sources the output of a perl script, rewrites itself.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FASCIST
Typical lines include:
umask 777
alias cd 'cd \!*; rm -rf ching *hack mille omega rogue xtrek >& /dev/null &'

The MANIAC
Typical lines include:
alias rm 'rm -rf \!*'
alias hose kill -9 '`ps -augxww | grep \!* | awk \'{print $2}\'`'
alias kill 'kill -9 \!* ; kill -9 \!* ; kill -9 \!*'
alias renice 'echo Renice\?  You must mean kill -9.; kill -9 \!*'

The IDIOT
Typical lines include:
alias dir ls
alias era rm
alias kitty cat
alias process_table ps
setenv DISPLAY vt100

Hobbies, technical

The TECHNICAL THUG
Writes entries for Obsfuscated C contest. Optimizes INTERCAL scripts. Maintains ENIAC emulator. Virtual reality.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FASCIST
Bugs office. Audits card-key logs. Modifies old TVs to listen in on cellular phone conversations. Listens to police band.

The MANIAC
Volunteers at Survival Research Labs. Bugs office. Edits card-key logs. Modifies old TVs to listen in on cellular phone conversations. Jams police band.

The IDIOT
Ties shoes. Maintains COBOL decimal to roman numeral converter. Rereads flowcharts from his salad days at Rand.

Hobbies, non technical

The TECHNICAL THUG
Drinks "Smart Drinks". Attends raves. Hangs out at poetry readings and Whole Earth Review events and tries to pick up Birkenstock MOTAS.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FASCIST
Reads Readers Digest and Mein Kampf. Sometimes turns up car radio and sings along to John Denver. Golfs. Drinks gin martinis. Hangs out in yuppie bars and tries to pick up dominatrixes.

The MANIAC
Reads Utne Reader and Mein Kampf. Faithfully attends Dickies and Ramones concerts. Punches out people who say "virtual reality". Drinks damn near anything, but favors Wild Turkey, Black Bush, and grain alcohol. Hangs out in neighborhood bars and tries to pick up MOTAS by drinking longshoremen under the table.

The IDIOT
Reads Time and Newsweek-- and *believes* them. Drinks Jagermeister. Tries to pick up close blood relations-- often succeeds, producting next generation of idiots.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: 1992

The TECHNICAL THUG
Clinton, but only because he liked Gore's book.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FASCIST
Bush. Possibly Clinton, but only because he liked Tipper.

The MANIAC
Frank Zappa.

The IDIOT
Perot.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: 1996

The TECHNICAL THUG
Richard Stallman - Larry Wall.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FASCIST
Nixon - Buchanan.

The MANIAC
Frank Zappa.

The IDIOT
Quayle.

Compound system administrators

The TECHNICAL FASCIST
Hacks kernel & writes a horde of scripts to prevent folk from ever using more than their fair share of system resources. Resulting overhead and load brings system to its knees.

The TECHNICAL MANIAC
Writes scripts that SEEM to be monitoring the system, but are actually encrypting large lists of passwords. Uses nearby nodes as beta test sites for worms.

The TECHNICAL IDIOT
Writes superuser-run scripts that sooner or later do an "rm -rf /".

The FASCISTIC MANIAC
At first hint of cracker incursions, whether real or imagined, shuts down system by triggering water-on-the-brain detectors and Halon system.

The FASCISTIC IDIOT
# cp /dev/null /etc/passwd

The MANIACAL IDIOT
Napalms the CPU.