I hate computers: confession sysadmin
I often ask myself: do plumbers have a moment in their careers when, after cleaning another clogged drain, they begin to hate their profession? Hate the pipe. Hate putty. To hate all the tricks that they have learned over the years, to hate to learn new things. For God's sake, this is just a plumber: connect the pipes and let the liquid through them. Is it really difficult?
No, seriously, I hate them. I like the way they facilitate communication, I love the convenience they bring to my life, I love that sometimes they allow me to break away from the outside world; but, really, I hate computers themselves. They are breaking, incomprehensible things - a jumble of glitches, hardware and software restricting freedom. Why?
Every day I am engaged in the support of "users". I am not one of those snotty IT people who look with disdain at people who do not know what an interruption request is. I am aware that users do not care about the device computers. Computer for them is a means to achieve the goal: to make a presentation to receive a grant, learn a new computational methodology, or simply send a beautiful postcard to your family. They do not want to "use the computer" enough to understand it. The same with cars: I do not want to know how an internal combustion engine works, how to change the oil or at least something that affects the areas of work of an auto mechanic - I just want to sit down and go to the store!
But these stupid computers themselves prevent us from doing the things for which they were created to facilitate. This whole artificial paradigm with administrator accounts, security, permissions, and all the other things that people don’t want to think about at all. A lot of auxiliary software, necessary for computer operation, has been created, but all this software only complicates the system and makes it less stable, which usually leads to sad results.
')
What caused me another outburst of anger is the user's inability to check whether updates are available in Windows Update. It all starts well. But clicking on “Check for Updates” results in a useless message saying that Windows Update cannot do this. The user is shown a meaningless error code, as if he could do something with it. Oh, there is even a useful link “Learn more about common Windows Update problems”. But the list contains a bunch of different error codes, in addition to that received by the user. And even the Windows logs, to which I know how to get to me, but the user does not know, also do not contain anything useful. And usually the user has only two ways: to ignore the error, hoping that this will not affect the work in the future; or try to correct the error, using the ill-conceived recovery system from the computer manufacturer provided to it on the disk (well, if it exists at all).
Another client, whom I supported, was constantly tormented with Adobe Acrobat. Attempts to open PDF from the browser ended in nothing. Either the links simply did not open, or they loaded a blank page, or Internet Explorer displayed a message about problems with the network. I was grateful if the user could find a workaround and right-click and choose “Save As” to work with the file until I found a solution to the problem. But after all, many users do not even know why this right button is needed.
I find fault with Microsoft so much, because I believe that they do a lot of things wrong. But many other companies are also unable to make a normal design, the implementation of something or feedback from their users. Google Chrome looks nice when it writes “Opanki ...”, but if you look at it from the practical side, it doesn’t provide the user with any data on what could be wrong, leaving the user in helplessness, a sense of powerlessness and a sense of their own stupidity.
Yes, even when everything goes fine, users feel stupid. Installing virtually any program in Windows implies an excessive number of clicks, all of which are “OK”, “OK”, “OK”. Nobody reads user agreements, no one changes the standard installation directory, no one changes the options during installation. Everyone just keeps clicking “OK”, that is, doing what they were accustomed to. And everything ends with 4 additional toolbars in the browser and a bunch of “helping” programs that never do what the user expects of them. And then he does not know how to get rid of them.
There is much to say about the ease of installing programs on Linux or Mac. In the latter case, simply drag the file into the application folder and ready. Linux package manager will do all the dirty work without user intervention. If the program needs any additional libraries, the package manager will automatically pull them up and install them. In both cases, I will be able to install the application for a small fraction of the time Windows will need for this.
Removing software is another user nightmare. Again, Mac and Linux are easy to use. Hell, on any Linux-system I can see in a few seconds which packages I have installed using one command from the terminal (or click on the corresponding button in the graphical interface). But on any Vindos machine — even a new one and with a super-modern iron — the display of installed programs will take long minutes; and, what is even worse, not everything that is actually installed on the computer is shown in “Installing and uninstalling programs”. Deleting a specific application does not always happen cleanly and to the end: a lot of trash remains in the file system and registry.
Generally speaking, about file systems, why does searching for a record in a SQL database take millions of seconds among millions of others, and does it take a minute to search something on the hard disk? No, I’m sure there is a logical explanation for this, but damn it, try to explain it to the user.
Regular users went to “computer classes”, where they were trained to do something specific - usually working with an application (for example, how to use MS Word) or, on the contrary, how to solve a specific task (how to use word processors) - but when faced with something wider than what they were in the class, the user can not solve this problem. How does he understand this pop-up error message? How to behave with a constantly getting out error in the application?
The pace at which the computer industry develops works against users. Coloring the ports in different colors for better clarity was a great idea, but now, when the user needs to know the difference between VGA, DVI and DisplayPort, this is not enough. Many computers entering my office have all three of these ports, and monitors support multiple inputs, which leaves users at a loss as to which of them they need to connect to a computer. More than once, I was called by really smart students who could not figure out how to connect a computer to a monitor. Of course, you can make a joke and laugh at the situation, but, in my opinion, this is the fault of the whole industry.
I have never had malware on my computer; but I have helped people get rid of them more than once - clients whom I support, as well as family and friends. Can you imagine a mother-in-law carrying out this malware removal instruction ? Or, worse, correcting the consequences of an unsuccessful update antivirus ?
Companies involved in both hardware and software know that we use computers to store information important to us. And still the backup of information remains a huge headache. There are many "corporate" backup software, trying to protect us from errors (hardware, software or human). A bunch of “custom” solutions are vying for our dollars; but to be honest, they all suck. Why do we need external software in order to protect our “attachments” to the computer? And usually users do not buy software to create backups, hoping that nothing bad will happen to their computer.
Nowadays, information accumulates very quickly - digital photos, MP3 collections, videos - backing up all of this can be a serious problem. Moreover, it is expensive. You bought a cool new camera for a few hundred dollars, and you need a couple more to buy an external hard drive, on which you can make backups. And, of course, the backup itself from computer to disk takes a long time, so you need to have a considerable amount of time or peace of mind to do it regularly. So you start to neglect this and - bam! - computer breaks down - hard disk, malware, whatever - and you lose weeks and months of invaluable information.
Of course, some computers come with redundant disks, but most consumer-level RAID arrays are a breaking jumble of hardware and software, further complicating installation. Why reliable, cheap solutions based on RAID did not reach the masses? Why do end users not yet have access to such useful things as snapshots or ZFS?
And what about these minor problems that users cannot begin to identify or diagnose, such as swollen capacitors on the motherboard or a faulty video card and RAM?
In any computer store right now sold a crazy number of computers that can intimidate even the most persistent buyer. What will these rows of meaningless statisticians say to someone who does not understand computers? Will there be a difference from these 0.2GHz? This will add six months, or maybe even a year to the life of the computer? And why should a regular user worry about the number of bits in his operating system?
I hate computers.
I understand that my speech is a drop in the ocean: a huge, sluggish industry, making a lot of money on the complexity of this computer era, and only a small capitalist incentive to change the status quo. All these complaints are not new, most of them have been made in the last quarter of a century. We will try, as far as we can, to highlight some of the tangible problems, but this is all that we can do. And what are you doing with these problems?
Maybe I should become a plumber ...
* (from the translator) Here the author, as it seems to me, means not a sysadmin, but rather an enikeyschik or technical support worker. However, this does not affect the problems described.
No, seriously, I hate them. I like the way they facilitate communication, I love the convenience they bring to my life, I love that sometimes they allow me to break away from the outside world; but, really, I hate computers themselves. They are breaking, incomprehensible things - a jumble of glitches, hardware and software restricting freedom. Why?
Every day I am engaged in the support of "users". I am not one of those snotty IT people who look with disdain at people who do not know what an interruption request is. I am aware that users do not care about the device computers. Computer for them is a means to achieve the goal: to make a presentation to receive a grant, learn a new computational methodology, or simply send a beautiful postcard to your family. They do not want to "use the computer" enough to understand it. The same with cars: I do not want to know how an internal combustion engine works, how to change the oil or at least something that affects the areas of work of an auto mechanic - I just want to sit down and go to the store!
But these stupid computers themselves prevent us from doing the things for which they were created to facilitate. This whole artificial paradigm with administrator accounts, security, permissions, and all the other things that people don’t want to think about at all. A lot of auxiliary software, necessary for computer operation, has been created, but all this software only complicates the system and makes it less stable, which usually leads to sad results.
')
What caused me another outburst of anger is the user's inability to check whether updates are available in Windows Update. It all starts well. But clicking on “Check for Updates” results in a useless message saying that Windows Update cannot do this. The user is shown a meaningless error code, as if he could do something with it. Oh, there is even a useful link “Learn more about common Windows Update problems”. But the list contains a bunch of different error codes, in addition to that received by the user. And even the Windows logs, to which I know how to get to me, but the user does not know, also do not contain anything useful. And usually the user has only two ways: to ignore the error, hoping that this will not affect the work in the future; or try to correct the error, using the ill-conceived recovery system from the computer manufacturer provided to it on the disk (well, if it exists at all).
Another client, whom I supported, was constantly tormented with Adobe Acrobat. Attempts to open PDF from the browser ended in nothing. Either the links simply did not open, or they loaded a blank page, or Internet Explorer displayed a message about problems with the network. I was grateful if the user could find a workaround and right-click and choose “Save As” to work with the file until I found a solution to the problem. But after all, many users do not even know why this right button is needed.
I find fault with Microsoft so much, because I believe that they do a lot of things wrong. But many other companies are also unable to make a normal design, the implementation of something or feedback from their users. Google Chrome looks nice when it writes “Opanki ...”, but if you look at it from the practical side, it doesn’t provide the user with any data on what could be wrong, leaving the user in helplessness, a sense of powerlessness and a sense of their own stupidity.
Yes, even when everything goes fine, users feel stupid. Installing virtually any program in Windows implies an excessive number of clicks, all of which are “OK”, “OK”, “OK”. Nobody reads user agreements, no one changes the standard installation directory, no one changes the options during installation. Everyone just keeps clicking “OK”, that is, doing what they were accustomed to. And everything ends with 4 additional toolbars in the browser and a bunch of “helping” programs that never do what the user expects of them. And then he does not know how to get rid of them.
There is much to say about the ease of installing programs on Linux or Mac. In the latter case, simply drag the file into the application folder and ready. Linux package manager will do all the dirty work without user intervention. If the program needs any additional libraries, the package manager will automatically pull them up and install them. In both cases, I will be able to install the application for a small fraction of the time Windows will need for this.
Removing software is another user nightmare. Again, Mac and Linux are easy to use. Hell, on any Linux-system I can see in a few seconds which packages I have installed using one command from the terminal (or click on the corresponding button in the graphical interface). But on any Vindos machine — even a new one and with a super-modern iron — the display of installed programs will take long minutes; and, what is even worse, not everything that is actually installed on the computer is shown in “Installing and uninstalling programs”. Deleting a specific application does not always happen cleanly and to the end: a lot of trash remains in the file system and registry.
Generally speaking, about file systems, why does searching for a record in a SQL database take millions of seconds among millions of others, and does it take a minute to search something on the hard disk? No, I’m sure there is a logical explanation for this, but damn it, try to explain it to the user.
Regular users went to “computer classes”, where they were trained to do something specific - usually working with an application (for example, how to use MS Word) or, on the contrary, how to solve a specific task (how to use word processors) - but when faced with something wider than what they were in the class, the user can not solve this problem. How does he understand this pop-up error message? How to behave with a constantly getting out error in the application?
The pace at which the computer industry develops works against users. Coloring the ports in different colors for better clarity was a great idea, but now, when the user needs to know the difference between VGA, DVI and DisplayPort, this is not enough. Many computers entering my office have all three of these ports, and monitors support multiple inputs, which leaves users at a loss as to which of them they need to connect to a computer. More than once, I was called by really smart students who could not figure out how to connect a computer to a monitor. Of course, you can make a joke and laugh at the situation, but, in my opinion, this is the fault of the whole industry.
I have never had malware on my computer; but I have helped people get rid of them more than once - clients whom I support, as well as family and friends. Can you imagine a mother-in-law carrying out this malware removal instruction ? Or, worse, correcting the consequences of an unsuccessful update antivirus ?
Companies involved in both hardware and software know that we use computers to store information important to us. And still the backup of information remains a huge headache. There are many "corporate" backup software, trying to protect us from errors (hardware, software or human). A bunch of “custom” solutions are vying for our dollars; but to be honest, they all suck. Why do we need external software in order to protect our “attachments” to the computer? And usually users do not buy software to create backups, hoping that nothing bad will happen to their computer.
Nowadays, information accumulates very quickly - digital photos, MP3 collections, videos - backing up all of this can be a serious problem. Moreover, it is expensive. You bought a cool new camera for a few hundred dollars, and you need a couple more to buy an external hard drive, on which you can make backups. And, of course, the backup itself from computer to disk takes a long time, so you need to have a considerable amount of time or peace of mind to do it regularly. So you start to neglect this and - bam! - computer breaks down - hard disk, malware, whatever - and you lose weeks and months of invaluable information.
Of course, some computers come with redundant disks, but most consumer-level RAID arrays are a breaking jumble of hardware and software, further complicating installation. Why reliable, cheap solutions based on RAID did not reach the masses? Why do end users not yet have access to such useful things as snapshots or ZFS?
And what about these minor problems that users cannot begin to identify or diagnose, such as swollen capacitors on the motherboard or a faulty video card and RAM?
In any computer store right now sold a crazy number of computers that can intimidate even the most persistent buyer. What will these rows of meaningless statisticians say to someone who does not understand computers? Will there be a difference from these 0.2GHz? This will add six months, or maybe even a year to the life of the computer? And why should a regular user worry about the number of bits in his operating system?
I hate computers.
I understand that my speech is a drop in the ocean: a huge, sluggish industry, making a lot of money on the complexity of this computer era, and only a small capitalist incentive to change the status quo. All these complaints are not new, most of them have been made in the last quarter of a century. We will try, as far as we can, to highlight some of the tangible problems, but this is all that we can do. And what are you doing with these problems?
Maybe I should become a plumber ...
* (from the translator) Here the author, as it seems to me, means not a sysadmin, but rather an enikeyschik or technical support worker. However, this does not affect the problems described.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/91896/
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