10 of our favorite sysadmin stories from 2021

In the Special Theory of Relativity, Albert Einstein popularized the concept that "time is relative" or that "time is a (persistent) illusion."

In a more prosaic way, we all have the feeling that time appears to move slowly when we are bored and quickly when we are having fun.

Well, not everything has been exactly funny on this planet recently, but I think most of us have felt something similar to the output of the script below (and maybe the $INTERVAL variable would not even appear to be too wrong):

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Anyway, our collaborators at Enable Sysadmin had a lot of fun writing these articles about sysadmin life in 2021, which helped us relax, laugh, and reflect on life and time. I hope you enjoy reading them. And if you have a topic you're passionate about, join our community and continue the tradition of knowledge sharing that makes the Linux ecosystem great.

Top 10 sysadmin stories of 2021

1. Level up your Ansible skills while having fun: Sysadmin after dark by Ricardo Gerardi: Sysadmins spend a lot of time working hard. You deserve a break! So why not break some walls? But before that, install a game the nerdy way: By running an Ansible playbook!
2. System administration is dead, long live system administration! by Scott McBrien: Here is a nice comparison of the life of a sysadmin some time ago versus what it is nowadays. Isn't it interesting when we see things from a temporal perspective?
3. 7 signs you survived the best era of IT by Roberto Nozaki: Depending on how long you have worked in IT, you may be familiar with many (or even all) of the technologies mentioned here. Jump into the time capsule!
4. Linux sysadmins: 6 reasons you should write technical articles by Roberto Nozaki: I bet that you have many tips or stories to share with your fellow sysadmins. Come on, use the downtime of the holidays to write down those ideas and experiences and give them to the world!
5. What's the average age of a Linux sysadmin? by Ken Hess: Curious about how old we sysadmins are? Take time to cast your vote and check the poll results.
6. 5 ways to ruin a sysadmin's day by Ken Hess: A hilarious compilation about some of the things that give sysadmins a hard time.
7. My journey into Linux system administration by Kshitiz Saini: Check out the professional evolution of a sysadmin. This article may inspire you to take the time to write your own story.
8. May the Fourth be with you via Podman by Tom Sweeney: Some Star Wars fans really put some serious time into building an ASCII movie. And now you can run it on a pod!
9. Becoming a Linux system administrator: From sales to sysadmin by Joachim Haller: Another journey, another path. The path is different for each of us, but it is inspirational to look at our own timeline to see where we're going and where we've been.
10. Resilient sysadmin: 5 tips for success in a remote work environment by Tyler Carrigan: Very insightful ideas for these interesting times when many of us are working remotely.

Wrap up

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The next time you blink, you may realize that a lot of time has passed. For example, think about the year you started working in IT and everything that has happened or changed since then.

But before you start projecting what may happen in the future, remember to pay attention to right here, right now. After all, these instants are what make up the totality of your life (yes, sysadmins can do philosophy too, I guess).

And...

Oh wow, can you believe it is already $ANOTHERMONTH of $ANOTHERYEAR?