Bacula, gossip, advice

• Bacula config coming along; figured out today that /dev/nst0 corresponds to what mtx sees as Data Transfer Element 1 (as opposed to DTE 0), which explains why previous attempts to run label barcode just failed miserably. (Neat command that.) And I had thought that DTE meant the arm, but no: upon reflection, it's a subtle/obtuse (not the right word, but oh well) way of referring to the tape drive itself.
• Rather interesting comment, if you like that sort of thing, from Mark Burgess (originator of Cfengine on Puppet and Luke Kanies. I know, I should remain above, but it is weirdly fascinating.
• And to go out on a high note, some excellent advice from Tom Limoncelli on setting priorities as a sysadmin:

This sounds like when I was at my previous employer and they asked if I could develop a web-based system to take surveys. I nearly said, "yes" because, well, I know perl, I know CGI, and I could do it. However, I was smart enough to say "no, but surveymonkey.com will do it for cheap." Best of all it was self-service and the HR person was able to do it entirely without me. If I had said I could write such a program, it would have been days of back-and-forth changes which would have driven me crazy. Instead, she was happy to be empowered to do it herself. In fact, doing it herself without any help became a feather in her cap.

The lesson I learned is that "can I do it?" includes "do I want to do it?". If I can do something but don't want to, the answer is, "No, I don't know how" not "I know how but don't want to". The first makes you look like you know your limits. The latter sounds like you are just being difficult.