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From: kdavies@dalcsug.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Complexity in microcomputers
Message-ID: <35@dalcsug.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 25-Mar-87 21:38:25 EST
Article-I.D.: dalcsug.35
Posted: Wed Mar 25 21:38:25 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 27-Mar-87 05:13:12 EST
References: <165@micropen>
Reply-To: kdavies@dalcsug.UUCP (Kevin Davies)
Organization: Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., Canada
Lines: 50
Keywords: system administration MSDOS microcomputers
Summary: system administrators

In article <165@micropen> dave@micropen (David F. Carlson) writes:
>
>My point is that the executive who now kills his PC when he's done
>will have an entirely different beast when these 386/UNIX/XENIX/ADOS
>boxes arrive.  Communication (24 hours a day) will be necessary--
>commonplace.  Best download rates, etc.  But who is going to manage
>this cacophony of machines?  I find it hard to believe that Mr.
>corporate-America-middle-manager is going to learn the guts of uucp,
>or how to apply a patch to netnews.  By the amount of trouble I've had
>trying to get people to use their d&$m passwords here, I find it hard
>to believe that computer discipline will be immediate.  
>
>Any solutions or do you all think I've found a non-problem?
>
>
>-- 
>David F. Carlson, Micropen, Inc.
>...!{seismo}!rochester!ur-valhalla!micropen!dave
>

I think you've brought up an extremely good point. I'm doing some work
now for a fellow who is using a Xenix system --- he feels right at
home with it and can get by normally day by day, _except_ when it
comes to figuring out inconsistencies in the system; restoring after
a disk crash; use of cron and the other multitude of functions
which must be taken care of. The main problem, is that these functions
need not be known (and should not) to the average user in order for
him to do his work. These are what you might consider "behind the
scenes" and _yes_ something will have to be done about this problem
for the Unix/Xenix systems coming up on PC's and AT's.

Your normal manager will have a hard enough time learning to USE
the system, if he's never used a computer before let alone the
internal functions.   What you might see appearing are system
administrators who will either: 1) administer the one site for
these managers or 2) administer a whole set sites for different
companies.  in my opion, VERY few businessmen will be able to
administer a system by themselves -- did YOU learn Unix in
one week ?

Not even crash courses can give you the experience only obtained
by actual hands on experience.


-- 
Kevin Davies	 ...{seismo|watmath|utai|garfield} !dalcs!dalcsug!kdavies

Kirk :  "Spock, I do wish you'd stop using those colourful metaphors"
Spock:  "The _hell_ I will, Captain"
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