Can one have too much "power"
I am sitting here, in a root window doing a apt-get update, waiting for that to complete, and in my email, sitting, looking at a Debian Security Update. When the update completes, I am going to install the "security" update suggested by Debian, and just thinking. Is this going to have any adverse effects on my system, is it going to be the next horror I come in contact with, or is it just going to be an easy update?
After installing Knoppix to my hard drive, I have become, not only a user of Linux/Debian, but, my own System Administrator, a title, I might add, I have never known, in a operating system, I am only learning, and I am GOD in it. I have been charged with the "power" to judge what is, and isn't important, what should be done, and what shouldn't. I have the power to break, or keep the system running.
I come from a long standing IT background, but never to this extent, this kind of power. I worked as a tech for many years, and the title Power User has changed from what I know it means, to something "simple" in some of the newer operating systems. From what I hear, in WinXP, the term "power user" is simply a person who needs more rights, or priviledges to do there job, or someone who needs more "time slices" of processor, to get there job done. This is not the term I see the title being.
In my days, the term power user was used to designate a person, who wants, not needs, everything installed on there system, either in hardware, or software. These people would be the ones that when a new program came out, they had to have it, even if they would never use it. Or, these people were the ones who wanted the newest hardware connected to there system, even if they didn't have a free slot in the computer, or had exceeded all of there IRQ's already. These people had to be "one up" on everyone else in the company. If "joe" had a new printer, they had to have a newer printer, if someone had a new scanner, they had to have a newer one then them. If someone got a fast computer, they had to have the fastest. These kinds of people were the ones who were constantly making requisitions for newer and newer computer equipment, and had to be the "top" of the list, when a tech was working on anyones computer. These were the people who had to have at least two computers on there desk, networked in there own router, split-off from the rest of the company, and still be able to get to the companies network, but, the company network couldn't get to them. There desk looked like someone created a Cray Computer in table-top form, and they had to have it on there desk. You would walk into there office, and only see computers on there desk. Not even enough room to sign a Birthday Card on there desk, they would have to move something just to get the free space.
Power. In the United States, it is all around us. You are constantly looking for more "power" in your job, to move up, when you drive on the freeways, it is the person who has the gaul to pass you, when you go to a parking lot, it is the ability to get that "first" parking space, and God forbid, someone takes that away from you, and finally, it comes down to Linux.
With Linux, and my single user, system, I can be GOD whenever I want, I can install, or remove, almost anything I want. I can, in one easy command, blow the system, or strive to keep it running and happy. I am GOD, root to be more specific, but, in the days of UNIX, root, or Super User, was GOD. As God, you can dish out rights and priviledges, or take them away, from anyone you choose. You can lock out a user, or give them free reign. You can do anything that you want.
Is this too much power for any one person to have? Can you go "too far"? What would happen if one of the "Power Users", I spoke of above, had these kinds of "powers"? Could we expect better things, or worse, from them? Would the person leave IT, and the techs, alone, or would they just be "more" in there face, for the fact they would only do more "damage" than good?
If you are going to talk about power, you have to talk about its anti, or alter-ego, force, control. With power, you must have control. Without control, power is destine to be catastrophic. Why is Knoppix shipped with priviledges "locked-down", why is there no passwords for any of the accounts, why are all the external hard drives "defaulted" to read-only? Control. In the face of Knoppix's "power", we find "control". Hopefully, this "control" is strong enough to limit the "power" to do things, long enough, that we have the knowledge of the "power", before we learn how to remove the "control".
When someone posts a topic: What is the root password? -=- I am fearful of giving an answer, because I may be an unwilling participant in removing the "control" from the person, and thus, allowing "power" to be used before, maybe, the right time. As a wise person once said: Absolute power, corrupts, absolutely. And I can't think of any better place that this resembles, then in Linux. Give the ability to be God, and a person may be the greatest in the world, or they may be the next tyrant of the world. Am I, by giving the key to root access, only allowing someone else to open the "pandora's box", or just a natural evolution of them?
Knowledge is power, but, without control, it has no checks and balances, no way of stopping the power. Sometimes a person needs to not only have the knowledge, but know how that knowledge is to be used, before that knowledge should become power. We see this all the time, in our daily life. When someone is given an advancement into Management, from a lowly position, and they either learn from the position, and become a great manager, or just become a person that no one wants to be under. The kind of manager that, every one in the company, says: Why did they ever get to be a manager, they never earned it, and they can't handle it? The person only becomes an idiot without a clue, but with power, instead of an idiot, who thinks they have power, and doesn't.
For me, being a System Administrator, of a Linux operating system, and having God "power", I will admit, I am the "idiot without a clue", but now, I have the power. I am learning, and I am not trying to use that "power", until I know what to do with it. I am "constantly" looking for answers, and not just using this "power", to get my way, on my own system. I look to this forum, and to Google for answers, before I use my "root" priviledges. So, if I appear to sound hesitant, or seem to "over-step" an answer to a post, you should only see that this is a form of "control", a way to possibly avoid the "pandora's box" thinking. As an old adage goes: Give a person a fish, and they will eat for a day, teach them to fish, and they will eat everyday.
Early on in my life, I realized, I was the one who wanted to teach people to fish. I don't want to just give a person an answer, and leave them at that, I want to not only give the answer, and how they can get the answer, or, show them how to get the answer themselves. I realize, as it was for me, in the early learning stages, sometimes you are just unsure, and blind, to knowing where, and how, to find your own answers. This is where an answer only, is needed, and then, as you become more comfortable, the "learning" comes into play. At that time, is when, a person wants to "know" how do I do this myself, how do "I" get these answers?
Knowledge, Power, and Control. All three forces can work together, or work against each other. Some "push" back against others, and others, work "with" some. Checks and balances, we need them, they keep us from doing something stupid, or keep us safe, or, in the case of Linux - possibly trashing our own computer systems. I can only hope, that as the "control" keeping me safe from Knoppix/Debian/Linux starts to go down, that, I have the "knowledge" and understanding, to "self-control" the increasing "power" that this operating system has.
I appologize for the length of this post/topic, but, I feel very strong about this "power" that Linux unleashes on its users, and when I feel strong about a subject, I can be very "verbose" ( I admit it, I think I have the longest posts than anyone else ). I was "forced" to be my own System Administrator, my own God, of my system, and maybe, I wasn't prepared for it. I just wanted to - possibly - open the eyes of others, to what they have become, when they ask to be a "God", as well. You may want to "opt out", at the last minute, it is a serious responsibility.
Ms. Cuddles
[we now return you to our regularly scheduled forum, already in progress]
