Image by iharfilipau via Flickr

System Administrator Appreciation Day falls on the last Friday of July, and it's the day to appreciate the lucky guy (or occasionally girl) who keeps your computer(s), your network and your internet connection working, often despite your best efforts.

At one time there was pretty much nobody on the internet except system administrators and academics, so as you'd expect there's already a vast wealth of sysadmin humour out there.

The most famous example is probably the Bastard Operator from Hell series by Simon Travaglia, which is not only a fun (if very very wrong) read and an immensely cathartic experience for any techie, but a nostalgic journey through the history of institutional computers and networks from the golden age of Big Iron to the millenium.

So I'm just going to say a big "Hi there and thanks" to all you talented sysadmins out there, and to everyone else: For the love of God think before you open that attachment.

That's your Day for today.

Labels: Big Iron, Cable, computers, IT, networks, Simon Travaglia, sysadmin, system administrator, system administrator appreciation day