The Random Ramblings of a Sysadmin

Why oh why is the IT business full of incompetent idiot savages? Why do I have to explain the concept of TTL at least once a week, when the people I explain it to are supposed to be technically competent employees at internet-based businesses? Why do these people not remember what I've told them from one week to the next? The answer is depressingly simple: A lot of IT-workers have little or no theoretical knowledge of what they work with, and do not seek any. The whole industry is full of happy-go-lucky suck-it-and-see "professionals", who've based their entire careers on being adequate. This works out nicely for them, I'm sure, but for the rest of us they're naught but a royal pain. I should be the first to point out that I have no formal training in the subtle art of system administration, however, I do have one thing that appears to set me apart from a lot of the people I deal with in my day to day working experince (clients, not collegues - but we'll get to that): Ambition. My ambition is not one of wealth or prestige, I simply want to do the best damn job i can - every single day. My ambition is to make sure that the systems I'm responsible for work smoothly and that our clients don't even realise I exist. Alas, the latter part is impossible as long as I do support as well as system administration, but that's not the point. The point is: I do whatever it takes to improve my skills and ensure the smooth working of all systems. Every. Single. Day. At my current place of employment, Armada Hosting, this is not something unique. In fact, one of the things that made me choose Armada Hosting when I was looking for a new and geographically better job was the standard company policy of employing only two groups of people: Those who are the best, and those who have the potential of becoming the best. I'm in the "potentially best" category, but working with people who are among the best in their field of expertise is one of the things that help me reach new levels of competence and professionalism. My point in this rather incoherent ramble is as simple as my first conclusion as to the nature of the problem: As long as a large part of the IT industry accept incompetence and low ambition levels among their staff, things will not improve. As long as being adequate and keeping your head down and your fingers crossed is enough to ensure employment, things will not improve. With the current shortage of manpower in these parts of the world, I cannot see any way in which we will see any changes any time soon. I may come off as being yet another bitter, paranoid, pessimist sysadmin. Probably because I am.