That's because they're big, clueless dinosaurs, who don't understand that Debian is the more complete, better maintained solution [blah blah blah blah]

No, they run it because the tools they run on linux demand a platform which can reasonably be depended on to be universally the same everywhere, and available with support contracts so that if something is wrong you stand a chance of getting it fixed beyond the usual dude, you have the source, fix it yourself that free software so enjoys.

Seriously -- these tools can cost so much that even a "real" Red Hat support license for the platform is noise. Just pay the man and be done with it.

Some of us have work to do.

I am astounded both that a three-page article is described as "lengthy", and that the first (and only comment displayed to me currently) starts out:

I must admit that I haven't RTFA.

I guess if it is longer than a tweet, it's too long.

Do you know why IT folks hate personal devices? It is because it isn't IT's. We cannot make rules over what you can or cannot do with your equipment. We can't tell you not to download spyware. We can't tell you not to let your teenage daughter install cute cursor packs. We can't make you buy decent (or any!) anti-virus or security software or force you to stay up-to-date with patches.

And what plusses are brought by personal equipment? Well, we are now on the hook to support your own weird applications, like some graphics package that was downloaded off a Russian server and is entirely in Korean(*). We are now on the hook for keeping your eight-year old second hand clone (built by your son's super intelligent friend) running(*). We have to get the company VPN solution working with your weird combination of hardware and software(*). We are now encouraged to install "field evaluation copies" of corporate software(*) so you can do your job when your not-entirely-compatible open source package(*) causes hilarity.

And, when you ignore all this and corporate security is compromised and thousands of pieces of private data are "accidentally circulated more widely than initially intended", it is OUR ass on the line.(**) Frankly, if I'm the one getting canned when it doesn't work, it's MY F***ING network.

You bringing your equipment in may save you time, but it doesn't save the company any money.

(*) = actually happened to me.

(**) == happened to someone I know.

Irony is a user with a six-digit uid complaining that the site went to shit. Everyone knows that the site went to shit before uid 2000 was claimed.

Ranting until someone's ears fall off is the only real way to respond.

Yeah sure, like that doesn't take time to do properly either. "F--- off d00d U suck" is not a proper rant.

/me wonders if you got modded "insightful" due to your observation of the administrator's... uh... well.

Yeah, but if you can't focus your attention long enough to remember the capital of Nebraska is, what good are you going to be as an employee? The best indicator of future performance is past performance. It isn't fair, but it has been proven. Yes, people can and do change, but most of the time they don't. Every job involves some degree of doing stupid stuff that has no immediate point to you. If you can't play the game at school, it doesn't bode well for your employment history.

Seriously?

Cars today have more horsepower, more traction, better safety, and more braking power than cars 20-30 years ago.. Yet, our speed limits have decreased.. Why?

Because the monkey behind the wheel hasn't improved any, is now distracted by his cell phone, GPS, and on-board DVD players, and statistically is older than the monkey behind the wheel was 20-30 years ago.

Basically, the monkey is the critical part in the system, and it just isn't getting any better.

(Well except for you. You are a MAGNIFICENT driver, and we should all just stay the hell out of your way when you drive.)

I was hoping to see them install rack-mount computers. Sure, it isn't as fiddly, but when you have 40 of them to do all at once... you tend to get good at it.

My doucheness is inflicted on my by my giant douche corporation, you insensitive clod!

Right, I get hit by my own irony stick. I deserved that. "we we" indeed.

Come on, guys, it's not "in lieu of". "In lieu of" means "instead; in place of; as a substitute for". So that description makes absolutely no sense. The submitter probably means "in light of".

I know this is just slashdot, but we we have computers and the internet where all the grammar nazis have left us neat hints how to use language correctly, if not effectively. Articles like this make us all look like gibbering chimps.

My policy always was, my pager compensation was proportional to the potential impairment of my own agenda.

What I mean is, if you expect me to reply to you within a certain time frame, then I have to be near a phone or within cell coverage. This restricts where I can go. If you expect me to connect in remotely, I have to be near internet connectivity, and most of the time be carrying my laptop with me. This further restricts where I can go, and what I can do when I go there. If you want me to be on site within a certain time frame, that even further restricts where I can go.

If I can watch TV, go to the movies, or out for dinner and still be on call, that's not going to cost you as much as if I have to be within 30 minutes of being on-site from the moment you call me.

Historically, I have been lucky. One employer paid us $500/week to carry the pager with a 90-minute call-back SLA (and then hilariously lost the pager number and refused to admit it, so was unable to call us for 8 months). One customer was quoted something stupid like $5K/week for 7x24, 60-minute on-site (plus hourly when we got there). Any call time was billed back to the client, and we (theoretically) got time-for-time in exchange for that. My current employer has a pager our customers to call, but since it is 7x24 it is optional to be in the rotation and for various reasons I've opted out. In addition to receiving money for your week on the pager here, time is tracked very strictly and we get time-for-time for any pager-call time served.

IT is, and always has been, the high-tech equivalent of the maintenance guys who keep the lights on and the toilets flowing. We are under appreciated when everything works, blamed for every failing, and hailed like gods for fifteen seconds after we do the impossible.

Face it. We are a well paid trade, and most of the time don't have to get our hands as dirty.

Why don't people upgrade? Well in my case, I didn't upgrade because I knew that upgrading would immediately kill both the aftermarket theme and several of the aftermarket plugins that I was using, some of which had a huge amount of non-trivial data stored in them. All the plug-ins and theme bits came from WordPress-blessed sites, which made the time-bomb nature of their unsupportedness even more frustrating. After fighting through several minor updates and then looking at a major one, I just gave up, exported the content to my local hard drive, and abandoned the 'blog (since hacked, deleted, and hosting account closed). It seems like the only sure-fire way for things to work is to avoid non-core plugins and themes. And honestly, being hosted off of Blogger is much less work, and only slightly less customizable if you limit yourself to the core themes.