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From: barmar@ (Barry Margolin)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Single user vs. shared
Message-ID: <34853@news.Think.COM>
Date: 21 Mar 90 04:31:30 GMT
References: <51771@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV> <100598@convex.convex.com> <52661@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV> <1990Mar18.023523.4034@ultra.com> <52817@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV> <2165@crdos1.crd.ge.COM> <1990Mar20.174931.2202@utzoo.uucp> <1990Mar21.010346.6552@ultra.com>
Sender: news@Think.COM
Reply-To: barmar@think.com (Barry Margolin)
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge MA, USA
Lines: 27

In <1990Mar21.010346.6552@ultra.com>, Steve Jay (shj@ultra.com) writes:
>henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes:
>> >  The problem with sharing a computer is that someone gets to be
>> >administrator. And that means making decisions about software and o/s
>> >versions which will impact users...
>> I really don't understand this persistent myth that several dozen amateur
>> system administrators are better than one professional.
>I think it's possible to have the best of both worlds...single user
>workstations with the benefits of central administration, including
>backups, network fiddling, etc.

The original posting claimed that the benefits of single-user systems was
that system administrators don't bother the users by forcing upgrades at
inconvenient times, etc.  How do you claim they can be administered
centrally without the users noticing?  For instance, suppose there's an
automated network backup system (something we're planning on using for the
100 or so Macs on our network), but perhaps it requires a particular system
version.  How do you ensure that backups are performed without forcing
every user to go through the hassle of upgrading their systems?  What do
you do about the users who don't feel like upgrading just yet (perhaps
they haven't gotten around to getting the upgraded version of some
application so that it will work with the new system)?
--
Barry Margolin, Thinking Machines Corp.

barmar@think.com
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