• The OS is now Ubuntu Karmic Koala (9.10), and all the server’s running software comes from the standard Ubuntu packages, which means that whatever version is in Karmic¹, that’s what I’m running here.
• I’ve switched, definitely, from Apache to nginx. It’s faster, more efficient, and ridiculously easier to configure (to put it in perspective, in terms of ease of configuration, it’s like OpenBSD’s amazing pf to the unholy abomination that is Linux’s iptables.) nginx works perfectly with the two pieces of software I use the most on my server, WordPress and MyBB, even while using a SEO plugin with the latter, which requires some non-trivial redirect rules.
• As I don’t trust any ISP’s email server to distribute the mail my server sends (mostly confirmation emails from my forums), and since most ISPs and companies these days block mail sent from dynamic IP addresses, I keep a 256 MB Slicehost slice, with a static IP address and, most importantly, reverse DNS, which I use as a smart host for my home server. The slice doesn’t have a lot of power in terms of CPU (and it’s not meant to), but, as bandwidth is much cheaper in the US than in my poor country, the “small” limit the cheapest slice includes is a lot; I use it for serving static files, mostly for my forums (all images and Javascript files are served from there), and I still have bandwidth to spare.
• I’ve stopped using a Squid proxy in my home network, and nowadays access the web directly… except for when I indulge in one of my newest weird habits: reading webcomics like this one or this one while having lunch or dinner. At such a time, moving instantly from comic to comic is a must… so I simply re-enable Squid (with more aggressive caching than I’d use for normal browsing; after all, existing comics typically aren’t going to change, are they?), do a nice little wget in my server to download and cache the entire comic, and then enjoy reading the whole of it (in as many meals as it takes) as if it was stored locally…
• A few changes to my email server’s configuration, mostly related to spam filtering… but I’ve been writing about that, haven’t I? And there’s still more to come.

1. with updates, of course — people who are afraid of installing updates (“but… it might break something!”) are nothing more than mewling weaklings who are utterly incompetent as sysadmins; they should never be allowed within a mile of any server. Even one running Windows.

Related posts:

1. SPF, part 1: what is SPF, and how to fight spam with it
2. SPF, part 3: configuring Postfix to check SPF records when receiving mail
3. An Anti-Spam gateway #4: Postfix, part 2

My ideal job, at the moment, would be a senior sysadmin / junior PHP programmer “hybrid”, but I’m open to alternatives.

As I’ve said here before: no outsourcing, no MS stuff, no helpdesk. I don’t see this as “arrogance” on my part, but simply as not wanting to waste both sides’ time.

For more details (in Portuguese), and the full CV, please visit www.pedrotimoteo.com/cv . Thank you.

Related posts:

1. On job searching: stating in advance what you don’t want?
2. What I don’t want in a job
3. A job: trade, favor or duty?

My experience is that working as a sysadmin is, to me, interesting and fulfilling on a technical level, but ultimately disappointing and frustrating on a career and personal level. Why is that?

Let’s say you’re a good, competent sysadmin, and you’ve just joined a new company. During the first few days, you get acquainted with the company, the department, the sysadmin team (if any), the network, and the servers. Soon, any technical problems the company suffers from become apparent. Maybe a particular service is too slow, there have been security problems in the past, a server or application crashes often, there is some network congestion, that server’s logs tend to fill up the entire drive and need to be deleted from time to time, and so on. Or maybe you spot a need for something the company doesn’t have: a caching proxy server, an anti-spam / anti-virus email gateway, etc..

So, you get to work on those problems. Some software upgrades here, some tuning there, some cron entries here, some scripting there, some changes to the network, and so on. In months — maybe weeks, if the company is small — all the problems are mostly solved, and everything runs smoothly. Sure, you still have to reset users’ passwords (they keep losing the Post-Its forgetting them), keep software versions up to date (at least concerning bug fixes or newfound security holes), and, since you’re not dead and therefore haven’t stopped learning, maybe you later realize how a redesign or change of some particular server or software application can make things even better.

But, for the most part… most of your job is done. In the Unix world, with a decent knowledge of scripting and a good deal of experience, you can make your servers almost administer themselves, and you will be warned (by scripts) of potential problems in advance, so that they never actually happen. So… what now?

Now, you have a problem… especially if you’re an honest person. Because managers — and this has been my experience almost everywhere I’ve been — still tend to measure an employee’s work — and worth — by how busy he looks. Many people, then, simply pretend to be busy all the time (“change your email password? OK, I’ll get back to you next Monday.”), but such an attitude may be repulsive to you (it is to me). Explaining things to your manager doesn’t really work; even if he begins to understand, his own bosses won’t, and, if some head must roll, better yours than his…

So, after solving the company’s problems, and assuming you refuse to act busy when you’re not, what next? Well, you’ll get a reputation for laziness, for not “working” all the time, when everyone else does it (even if they’re just faking it). You’ll probably get assigned, in addition to your “proper” work, all the dumb, repetitive, non-sysadmin (and therefore non-scriptable) tasks — which, since you have free time, you probably can’t refuse, or at least feel you can’t. Any raise or promotion will certainly not go to you, but to your “hard-working” co-workers, who are always so “busy” and have so much “work” that they stay at work every day after 6, that they can never do a task “right now”, but only in a week’s time, and that, even their own results are much inferior to yours, it’s you who’re not “dependable”, “dedicated”, or “competent”.

Which is why I think it’s time for a career change. I currently work at home, in personal projects, but I’m probably going to look for a new job soon (for the extra money, and for learning something new “on the job”), and I’m thinking of programming, probably in PHP. I love the idea of creating something, instead of just making existing things work. And of (hopefully) being measured by results, not by how busy I look. I’m not a PHP “expert” (far from it), but I learn quickly, and I love to learn — even at 32 years old. Stagnation is always bad (though it seems that’s what most people seek in a job, especially in Portugal, oddly enough — learn a couple of skills, then do exactly that for the rest of your life), and, paraphrasing Duke Leto Atreides, a person needs new experiences… and new challenges.

Related posts:

1. Work: why a good sysadmin has a lot of free time
2. Work: being productive… or keeping busy? (part 2)
3. Work: being productive… or keeping busy?