Would there be work for a sysadmin who specializes in python?

Brent Bloxam brentb at beanfield.com
Tue Aug 25 09:42:00 EDT 2009


walterbyrd wrote:
> If I took the time to really learn to use python for sysadmin work,
> would I be able to find jobs, or even contract jobs?
> 
>>From what I am seeing on the job boards etc., I would have to say no.
> It looks to me as though I could possibly do that with perl, but not
> python.
> 
> Of course, I could be missing something. Job board ads can be
> deceptive.

Being a system admin is about being able to handle to many different 
situations, and your tasks can often include automating various things 
and writing tools. Depending on the sort of place you're working in and 
the size of the IT department, you could find yourself doing a lot of 
work that lies outside of the standard job description for a system 
administrator. If you're looking to start out in the field, it would be 
better to have general knowledge, and as you gain experience you can 
begin to specialize.

Being adaptable is key, so specializing in python probably won't gain 
you any ground as a system administrator. That being said, knowing 
python will mean you have another tool in your chest, which is 
definitely a good thing. If there's one thing I'd recommend, if you're 
not going to focus on a windows environment, would be to at least get 
perl under your belt as well.



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