[Operators] Server Software Choice

[Dave Cridland]

On Tue Apr 28 15:30:31 2009, Jonathan Schleifer wrote:
> Dave Cridland <dave at cridland.net> wrote:
> 
> > it's unlikely that even if you're reasonably
> > proficient in, say, Java, you're unlikely to be able to dive into
> > Openfire or Tigase and fix some bug you've just run into.
> 
> I don't agree to that. Even though I did not know Erlang before I  
> used
> ejabberd, I managed to fix a few bugs without even knowing it and by
> fixing those bugs, I actually learned some Erlang ;).

Well, sure, it's possible to find/fix the bug eventually. I was more  
thinking in terms of a mission-critical service, operated by a  
typical sysadmin. I was one myself, and I know that while I *did*  
have to dive in and patch bits of bind, for instance, and sometimes  
the Linux kernel, it was definitely better, and usually quicker, to  
just log an issue somewhere and have the fix done by someone else.

Aside from anything else, not only were my fixes generally more of a  
band-aid, as a result of my not knowing the code so well, but they  
were often done overnight, with two full work-days either side, and  
I'd have to catch up with the backlog of work too.

When I moved to programming, and handling support from that side, I  
still ended up pulling all-nighters to fix issues (and still do, on  
rare occasions), but at least once that's done I get to go to bed. :-)

Dave.
-- 
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