[colug-432] the /etc test

Tom Hanlon tom at functionalmedia.com
Wed Jul 23 15:49:14 EDT 2014


Oops add host.allow, hosts.deny to that list.

On Wed, Jul 23, 2014 at 3:48 PM, Tom Hanlon <tom at functionalmedia.com> wrote:
> On Mon, Jul 21, 2014 at 5:21 PM, tom <thomas.w.cranston at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 07/21/2014 03:34 PM, Rick Troth wrote:
>>
>> Pronounced "the etsy test".
>>
>> On 07/21/2014 12:26 PM, Scott Merrill wrote:
>>
>> I recently learned that someone who I consider to be a competent Linux
>> sysadmin had never personally installed Linux.  In his professional
>> life, that was a task always performed by a different team.
>>
>>
>> Most shocking for me was to find at one shop that "systems programmers" in
>> one group did not know programming. To be specific, they did not know the
>> primary developmental language of that system. This knowledge was
>> historically a requirement. (True, one can go far with Linux and not know C
>> from the alphabet. But here was almost like not knowing command entry.)
>>
>> There's a spectrum of capability ... along several axis. Point taken, Scott.
>> There's also a problem of elitism, even snobbery.
>> But
>> the need to bring people up to speed is real and serious. (Crypto crises are
>> just the low hanging fruit for opportunistic journalists. Other forms of
>> system security follow closely, and RAS (reliability, availability,
>> serviceability) aspects will become critical.)
>>
>> In job A, I learned about the /etc test.
>> In job B, I tried to apply it. Didn't go well.
>>
>> In job A, the Unix team hired a PhD student who was ostensibly a Unix heavy.
>> Guy's working on a doctorate so he's not suffering from lack of basic
>> brains, and he'd been *on* the Unix systems for months. But they had to let
>> him go after just a week. It was embarrassing and painful. Somehow he passed
>> the interview only to fall flat with real work. What happened?
>>
>> Looking for a sharper edge, someone on that team hit upon "the /etc test".
>> The idea was ...
>>
>> cd /etc
>> ls
>> "tell me what each of these is used for"
>>
>>
>> It's a Kobayashi Maru. You're going to fail. Something in the range of files
>> will be outside your domain of knowledge. But the intent (of the
>> interviewers) was to see how far you get. (And maybe also see how you handle
>> the unknowns.)
>>
>> In job B, I was allowed to be part of the interviewing panel. As if
>> candidates were not intimidated enough, I threw in the /etc test. Once. We
>> hired that candidate, and she was terrific, an excellent engineer/admin. But
>> she let us know with certainty (after joining the team) that "the /etc test"
>> was a bad idea (in her not so humble opinion).
>>
>> I've mentioned the /etc test a few times since then.
>>
>> -- R; <><
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> colug-432 mailing list
>> colug-432 at colug.net
>> http://lists.colug.net/mailman/listinfo/colug-432
>>
>> I'm not system admin material, but am curious:
>>
>> acpi                    dictionaries-common    iproute2         networks
>> selinux
>> adduser.conf            dkms                   issue            newt
>> sensors3.conf
>> adjtime                 dm                     issue.net
>> nsswitch.conf     sensors.d
>> alternatives            dnsmasq.d              java-7-openjdk
>> obex-data-server  services
>> anacrontab              doc-base               kbd              openal
>> sgml
>> apg.conf                dpkg                   kernel           opt
>> shadow
>> apm                     drirc                  kernel-img.conf  os-release
>> shadow-
>> apparmor                emacs                  kerneloops.conf  pam.conf
>> shells
>> apparmor.d              environment            ldap             pam.d
>> signond.conf
>> apport                  firefox                ld.so.cache      papersize
>> skel
>> apt                     firefox-3.0            ld.so.conf       passwd
>> sound
>> at-spi2                 firefox-3.5            ld.so.conf.d     passwd-
>> speech-dispatcher
>> avahi                   fonts                  legal            pcmcia
>> ssh
>> bash.bashrc             fstab                  libao.conf       perl
>> ssl
>> bash_completion         fstab.d                libaudit.conf    pki
>> subgid
>> bash_completion.d       fuse.conf              libnl-3          pm
>> subgid-
>> bindresvport.blacklist  gai.conf               libpaper.d       pnm2ppa.conf
>> subuid
>> blkid.conf              gconf                  libreoffice      polkit-1
>> subuid-
>> blkid.tab               gdb                    lintianrc        ppp
>> sudoers
>> bluetooth               ghostscript            linuxmint        profile
>> sudoers.d
>> bonobo-activation       gimp                   locale.alias     profile.d
>> sysctl.conf
>> brlapi.key              gnome                  localtime        protocols
>> sysctl.d
>> brltty                  gnome-settings-daemon  logcheck         pulse
>> systemd
>> brltty.conf             gnome-vfs-2.0          login.defs       purple
>> terminfo
>> ca-certificates         groff                  logrotate.conf   python
>> thunderbird
>> ca-certificates.conf    group                  logrotate.d      python2.7
>> timezone
>> calendar                group-                 lsb-release      python3
>> ts.conf
>> casper.conf             grub.d                 ltrace.conf      python3.4
>> ucf.conf
>> chatscripts             gshadow                lvm              rc0.d
>> udev
>> chromium-browser        gshadow-               magic            rc1.d
>> udisks2
>> colord.conf             gtk-2.0                magic.mime       rc2.d
>> ufw
>> ConsoleKit              gtk-3.0                mailcap          rc3.d
>> updatedb.conf
>> console-setup           hddtemp.db             mailcap.order    rc4.d
>> update-motd.d
>> cracklib                hdparm.conf            manpath.config   rc5.d
>> UPower
>> cron.d                  host.conf              mdm              rc6.d
>> upstart-xsessions
>> cron.daily              hostname               mime.types       rc.local
>> upstream-release
>> cron.hourly             hosts                  mke2fs.conf      rcS.d
>> usb_modeswitch.conf
>> cron.monthly            hosts.allow            modprobe.d
>> request-key.conf  usb_modeswitch.d
>> crontab                 hosts.deny             modules
>> request-key.d     vim
>> cron.weekly             hp                     modules-load.d   resolvconf
>> vtrgb
>> cups                    icedtea-web            mono             resolv.conf
>> wgetrc
>> cupshelpers             ifplugd                mtab             rmt
>> wildmidi
>> dbus-1                  init                   mtab.fuselock    rpc
>> wodim.conf
>> debconf.conf            init.d                 mtools.conf      rsyslog.conf
>> wpa_supplicant
>> debian_version          initramfs-tools        nanorc           rsyslog.d
>> X11
>> default                 inputrc                ndiswrapper      samba
>> xdg
>> deluser.conf            insserv                netscsid.conf    sane.d
>> xml
>> depmod.d                insserv.conf           network          securetty
>> zsh_command_not_found
>> dhcp                    insserv.conf.d         NetworkManager   security
>>
>> How much of the above should an average user know? How about a serious user?
>
> I consider myself average, and off the top of my head.
> crontab, password, resolv.conf, network,mtab,cups,
> modprobe,rsyslog,samba, init.d,modules,hosts,hostnme,
>
> are some of the content in /etc/ that I recall wrestling with over the years.
>
> --
> Tom
>
>
>>
>> This is from a fresh install of LinuxMint 17
>>
>> I know the feeling about Job A. Human Resources usually hire the person
>> that's best at jumping thru hoops. (not me) I knew a lady that ran a Human
>> Resources company. She said it was really hard to determine who could
>> actually do the job. I usually got the best jobs (in another field) by
>> hiring on as a temp, and then the engineer had to have me hired. One time
>> after that happened, the woman that ran Human Resources came and told me she
>> would never had hired me. I told her that she was incompetent and that if it
>> was my company I would fire her.
>>
>> Tom
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> colug-432 mailing list
>> colug-432 at colug.net
>> http://lists.colug.net/mailman/listinfo/colug-432
>>


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