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Comment by sunnyps | Hacker News Reader

The comparison with ChromeOS is flawed because you can go into Dev mode[1] on ChromeOS and do whatever the heck you want in a linux userland. There's even a project called Crouton[2] that allows you to install traditional Linux apps side-by-side on your Chromebook. You can also build ChromiumOS[3] the open-source version of ChromeOS and make it do whatever the heck you want.

I don't know about you but I want my sysadmin to work for me so that when I tell it to shut up and get out of my way, it does exactly that.

[1] https://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/poking-around-your-chro... [2] https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton [3] https://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/developer-guide

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> I don't know about you but I want my sysadmin to work for me so that when I tell it to shut up and get out of my way, it does exactly that.

I do actually disagree there! And this is perhaps the fundamental disagreement we have. I want my sysadmin to be a capital-E Engineer and choose their ethics over my desires. Don't let me (the capitalist) tweak the bridge I'm paying for into one that falls down; and similarly, don't let me tweak the computer I'm paying for into one that gets malware, joins a botnet and DDoSes people.

You pay your Engineers, basically, to provide you the service of "knowing what's best for you"; to be your domain-specific nanny, making sure you don't do something you'll regret out of ignorance.

>You pay your Engineers, basically, to provide you the service of "knowing what's best for you"; to be your domain-specific nanny, making sure you don't do something you'll regret out of ignorance.

And what if it's THEIR ignorance (e.g. of market opportunities) that prevents them from doing what you asked them to?

It's not like all sysadmin issues can be judged by pure technical reasons, without business needs taken into account.

You want engineers/sysadmins you discuss with you, warn you when you propose something they think is bad, but ultimately work FOR you, and do what you tell them to. They should never override you to make you "you don't do something you'll regret out of ignorance". It's your company after all.

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