The Lone Sysadmin » Quotes http://lonesysadmin.net Virtualization, System Administration, and Technology. Sun, 29 Aug 2010 21:54:07 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Levels of Indirection http://lonesysadmin.net/2010/06/29/levels-of-indirection/ http://lonesysadmin.net/2010/06/29/levels-of-indirection/#comments Tue, 29 Jun 2010 20:08:21 +0000 Bob Plankers http://lonesysadmin.net/?p=2676 Related Posts
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]]> “All problems in computer science can be solved by another level of indirection…
Except for the problem of too many layers of indirection.”

- David Wheeler, though often attributed to Butler Lampson, who has some great quotes, too:

“When in doubt, use brute force.”
“In handling resources, strive to avoid disaster rather than to attain an optimum.”

Lots of good stuff if you read his “Hints for Computer System Design.”

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]]> http://lonesysadmin.net/2010/06/29/levels-of-indirection/feed/ 0 If You Don’t Like Change… http://lonesysadmin.net/2010/05/20/if-you-dont-like-change/ http://lonesysadmin.net/2010/05/20/if-you-dont-like-change/#comments Thu, 20 May 2010 19:32:40 +0000 Bob Plankers http://lonesysadmin.net/?p=2589 Related Posts
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]]> “If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.” – General Eric Shinseki, former United States Army Chief of Staff.

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]]> http://lonesysadmin.net/2010/05/20/if-you-dont-like-change/feed/ 2 Communication http://lonesysadmin.net/2010/01/25/communication/ http://lonesysadmin.net/2010/01/25/communication/#comments Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:20:35 +0000 Bob Plankers http://lonesysadmin.net/?p=2400 Related Posts
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]]> “I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”  — Robert McCloskey

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]]> http://lonesysadmin.net/2010/01/25/communication/feed/ 1 Architects vs. Engineers http://lonesysadmin.net/2009/10/12/architects-vs-engineers/ http://lonesysadmin.net/2009/10/12/architects-vs-engineers/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:29:34 +0000 Bob Plankers http://lonesysadmin.net/?p=2191 Related Posts
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]]> “An architect knows something about everything. An engineer knows everything about one thing.”

- Matthew Frederick, “101 Things I Learned in Architecture School”

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]]> http://lonesysadmin.net/2009/10/12/architects-vs-engineers/feed/ 1 Mistakes http://lonesysadmin.net/2009/07/01/mistakes-2/ http://lonesysadmin.net/2009/07/01/mistakes-2/#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:31:02 +0000 Bob Plankers http://lonesysadmin.net/?p=2113 Related Posts
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]]> “No one wants to learn by mistakes, but we cannot learn enough from successes to go beyond the state of the art.” – Henry Petroski, “To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design”

My friend Jon has a script to randomize quotes in his email signature, and this came through yesterday. I’ve always enjoyed Henry Petroski’s books, and though he’s a civil engineer most of the lessons are ones IT professionals can learn from, too.

Luckily, most of our mistakes don’t involve buildings collapsing, though.[0]

——————-

[0] Which reminds me of another thing a former boss of mine used to say during crisis situations: “Calm down, nobody is dying here.”

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]]> http://lonesysadmin.net/2009/07/01/mistakes-2/feed/ 0 Keys http://lonesysadmin.net/2009/03/10/keys/ http://lonesysadmin.net/2009/03/10/keys/#comments Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:57:50 +0000 Bob Plankers http://lonesysadmin.net/?p=1950 Related Posts
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]]> “A man’s troubles can be measured by the number of keys in his pocket.” – David Plankers

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]]> http://lonesysadmin.net/2009/03/10/keys/feed/ 5 Story of My Life http://lonesysadmin.net/2009/01/18/story-of-my-life/ http://lonesysadmin.net/2009/01/18/story-of-my-life/#comments Sun, 18 Jan 2009 21:33:53 +0000 Bob Plankers http://lonesysadmin.net/?p=1869 Related Posts
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]]>
“After an access cover has been secured by 16 hold-down screws, it will be discovered that the gasket has been omitted.” – De la Lastra’s Corollary

There’s probably a linear relationship between the work needed to secure said access cover and the likelihood of omitting the gasket. As usual, from Michael Moncur’s Cynical Quote Collection over at QOTD.

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]]> http://lonesysadmin.net/2009/01/18/story-of-my-life/feed/ 2 They Make Me Feel Fancy http://lonesysadmin.net/2009/01/06/they-make-me-feel-fancy/ http://lonesysadmin.net/2009/01/06/they-make-me-feel-fancy/#comments Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:34:26 +0000 Bob Plankers http://lonesysadmin.net/?p=1816 Related Posts
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]]> “Even though I’m a man, I don’t like beer. I prefer appletinis. They make me feel fancy.” – J.D., on Scrubs.

Boy I’m glad Scrubs is back.

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]]> http://lonesysadmin.net/2009/01/06/they-make-me-feel-fancy/feed/ 5 Sufficiently Advanced http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/12/10/sufficiently-advanced/ http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/12/10/sufficiently-advanced/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:34:27 +0000 Bob Plankers http://lonesysadmin.net/?p=1681 Related Posts
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]]> “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” – Arthur C. Clarke

“Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice.” – Gray’s Law

(hat tip to Joshua Brauer at Adding Understanding for calling my attention to Gray’s Law)

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]]> http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/12/10/sufficiently-advanced/feed/ 2 Inaccuracy http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/12/02/inaccuracy/ http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/12/02/inaccuracy/#comments Tue, 02 Dec 2008 06:57:27 +0000 Bob Plankers http://lonesysadmin.net/?p=1675 Related Posts
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]]> “A little inaccuracy sometimes saves tons of explanation.” – Saki

(hat tip to QOTD as usual, best quote feed ever)

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]]> http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/12/02/inaccuracy/feed/ 0 Getting Things Done in Committee http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/06/06/getting-things-done-in-committee/ http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/06/06/getting-things-done-in-committee/#comments Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:24:06 +0000 Bob Plankers http://lonesysadmin.net/?p=1279 Related Posts
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]]> “To get something done, a committee should consist of no more than three men, two of whom are absent.”

- Robert Copeland

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]]> http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/06/06/getting-things-done-in-committee/feed/ 1 Defeating Ignorant Men http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/05/26/defeating-ignorant-men/ http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/05/26/defeating-ignorant-men/#comments Mon, 26 May 2008 15:37:23 +0000 Bob Plankers http://lonesysadmin.net/?p=1277 Related Posts
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]]> “It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument.”

- William G. McAdoo

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]]> http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/05/26/defeating-ignorant-men/feed/ 1 Get Even http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/03/10/get-even/ http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/03/10/get-even/#comments Tue, 11 Mar 2008 01:59:20 +0000 Bob Plankers http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/03/10/get-even/ Related Posts
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]]> “Don’t get mad. Get even.”

- David Plankers (1946 – 2001)*

* also, I realize that he’s probably not the first to say it, it’s just where I heard it.

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]]> http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/03/10/get-even/feed/ 4 Shortcuts Aren’t http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/02/04/shortcuts-arent/ http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/02/04/shortcuts-arent/#comments Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:04:40 +0000 Bob Plankers http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/02/04/shortcuts-arent/ Related Posts
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]]> “It’s hard to overemphasize how out-of-balance the economics are here. You saved maybe thirty person-seconds by skipping the review and checkpatch steps. But the cost (if this bug had gone into mainline) would be many many thousands times higher than this.” – Andrew Morton, admonishing someone on the LKML for not checking their work.

How many times a week do you work around shortcuts, where the original person saved a few minutes but cost weeks of time later?

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]]> http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/02/04/shortcuts-arent/feed/ 2 The Future Is Called ‘Perhaps’ http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/01/01/the-future-is-called-perhaps/ http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/01/01/the-future-is-called-perhaps/#comments Tue, 01 Jan 2008 11:57:36 +0000 Bob Plankers http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/01/01/the-future-is-called-perhaps/ Related Posts
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]]> “The future is called ‘perhaps,’ which is the only possible thing to call the future. And the important thing is not to allow that to scare you.”

- Tennessee Williams

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]]> http://lonesysadmin.net/2008/01/01/the-future-is-called-perhaps/feed/ 0