[aclug-L] Re: CS Degrees (Was: Re: Cool new fan site....hehe)

[Carl D Cravens <raven@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sat, 15 Apr 2000, lowell wrote:

> stranger group...;-))so let me ask: what of CS does a sysadmin use most often?
> Anything? A third ? A half?

If you can pick up a solid understanding of how computers work, from the
hardware through the OS up to the user interface, that'll take you a long
way in trouble shooting.  Those classes are there and required...
hardware, how the OS works, assembly language, just how programs work at
the system level (stacks, scoping, etc.) (I think that one is Fundamentals
of Computer Science at WSU).  Thing is, you can get through these classes
without really getting a true *understanding* of how it all fits together.
I don't know if just anyone can pick it up... I think it requires a bit of
a knack for it. 

I'm not objective enough to tell you how much of the CS degree you'll
really use.  I could have taught Intro to Unix when I took it (and done a
better job), but I was very impressed and learned a lot in Advanced Unix
Programming (though I forget his name... some here will know who I'm
talking about).  Even if you're only planning to sysadmin, Advanced Unix
Programming is very, very useful... it gets into details about how Unix
works that are hard to pick up unless you've programmed them.  
(Understanding of how suid programs work, for instance.)  (And if you're a
programmer and *aren't* doing college, you still need Advanced Programming
in the Unix Environment by W. Richard Stevens.)  

If you're considering a degree and you *know* you only want to sysadmin
and not be developer, I'd say to go for the BA... it doesn't go so
in-depth (you get to skip some scary theory classes) and you only have to
take Business Calc, which is like three hours, vs 13 hours of calculus
and/or linear algebra.  (I preferred linear algebra... it was much more
intuitive to me.)  If you want to be a developer, skip the BA... if you're
going to bother with 120 hours of college, you might as well take the
serious stuff.  Otherwise all you'll find is jobs writing Cobol and RPG
code.  Which isn't all that bad.  You can make good money at it... the
Linux generation wants to avoid it and the old timers are retiring.  RPG
is a high-demand market and you can make good bucks at it in
Wichita.  (Yeah... I thought RPG was dead, too.  Would you believe that
IBM is still developing new compilers?  Can you say Visual RPG?) 

And all that said, you can easily learn how to sysadmin Unix without going
to school... and probably in a much shorter time than four years.  If
you're planning on doing it for a living, look for an "apprentice"
position that you can work your way into from tech support or operations.  
(Which may mean taking a job running reports and backups, but it'll get
you in the door and lined up for a higher position.)  SouthWind is a good
place for that, though things may be too hectic and with Jeff gone I'm not
sure who's got time for mentoring.  If you've spent four years doing
sysadmin work in a mid-size shop, that ought to get you in some more
serious doors.  (The degree would still come in handy when vying for
promotions and the like, though.)

--
Carl D Cravens (raven@xxxxxxxxxxx)
Hail to the sun god, He sure is a fun god, Ra! Ra! Ra!


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