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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Pronounced "the etsy test".<br>
<br>
On 07/21/2014 12:26 PM, Scott Merrill wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote cite="mid:53CD3F45.20508@skippy.net" type="cite">
<pre wrap="">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.</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
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.) <br>
<br>
There's a spectrum of capability ... along several axis. Point
taken, Scott. There's also a problem of elitism, even snobbery. <br>
But <br>
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.) <br>
<br>
In job A, I learned about the /etc test. <br>
In job B, I tried to apply it. Didn't go well. <br>
<br>
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? <br>
<br>
Looking for a sharper edge, someone on that team hit upon "the /etc
test". The idea was ...<br>
<br>
<blockquote><font face="Courier New, Courier, monospace">cd /etc</font><br>
<font face="Courier New, Courier, monospace">ls</font><br>
"tell me what each of these is used for"<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
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.) <br>
<br>
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). <br>
<br>
I've mentioned the /etc test a few times since then. <br>
<br>
-- R; <><<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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