I have seen the future.

"Only if you care about the day to day upkeep of your system" sounds good. But a simpler answer might be "I think so".

From:

elffin.livejournal.com

"You can never tell when the next major trojan/worm will emerge."

I worked myself out of revenue when I wrote/implemented a virtual disk installation on a bunch of my then-customers. I'd have the system boot up once a week, do automated OS updates, and then reboot back to a virtual disk image that couldn't be changed permanently from within, with data files stored separately from the programs and OS (A lot of these folks were using Win95/Win98 and never changed a single thing on the system year in and year out).

I suddenly went six months without them needing me to work on the machines, invariably because all they needed to do was reboot if the system started acting strange. Better than eighty percent of my repeat customers gone because I made their Windows installations stable.

From:

though you can impressively claim to have made a windows installation stable, which is more than Microsoft can claim.

From:

That's my current situation, yes.

From:

chrisrw109.livejournal.com

The correct answer generally is:

'While the system is stable for the most part, I have a list of tweaks that should make the system more robust / secure / etc now that the current framework is in place'.

This is almost always the case as there's generally things you didn't have time / opportunity to do in the initial phase of implementation that can make things better / more stable. So it's also true.

But in the cases where it's 100% completely done, no tweaks / pinches / revisions? You say what he said.

The basic problem of doing good work is that there tend to be two rewards:
- More / Harder work to be done in less time.
- Less / No work because everything's fine no.

Condolences TWK.

From:

There's always tweaks and things. The question is whether they justify the consultant.

And in this situation, they don't. I was at the "stable but a list of tweaks" stage a year and a half ago with their server and network. Now, the primary company has been purchased, and the new owners have their own IT department and policies. Meaning, they don't need me. I simply confirmed what they suspected.

From:

chrisrw109.livejournal.com

I think, sadly we've all been there with a project or two in the past.

Still I find honesty is the right approach because it brings them back when they *do* have the need.

From:

dolston.livejournal.com

"Yes. I am your insurance policy for when your computer systems go down. Computers are mission critical to your business. This is why you need me."

From:

That would be the "ongoing contract for 'in case of emergency, call John'"

Which is not the same as a regular paycheck, even if it *is* at a higher rate per hour.

From:

it could be regular with some immoral and probably illegal nudging. I've had a lot of useful thoughts about cron jobs for my servers here that would ensure my job security.

From:

Immoral, *definitely* illegal, and absolutely unethical. I could lose my clients, my insurance, my references... In exchange for having to fix the things I break?

Fuck that!

From:

chrisrw109.livejournal.com

Word.

From:

Well, I don't recall you asking for *good* suggestions. Sadly, nothing I'd actually do, but i think about it a lot.

From:

(Technically he didn't ask for suggestions, period.)

Not sure why you think on balance that it's sad you wouldn't actually do that kind of thing.

From:

That is because you have never worked for my company. If you spent a week there, you'd want to crash their systems, too. the only thing that has stopped me from walking out on them all this time is that I actually like most of my co-workers, but the higher ups make me long for corporate espionage.

From:

Ah, I see. How "sad" that you don't do something immoral and unethical just because you want to.

From:

that is exactly my point. It is sad. Illegal and unethical things are not only enjoyable but often cathartic. Whether you approve of my thoughts or not. But as soon as the thought police start hiring, I'll send the application your way.

From:

*grin* Honey, you're the one accepting the definitions of your own actions as unethical, and broadcasting the fact. Keep the original application, send me the duplicate?

From:

Fair enough. And I'll gladly accept that ruining my company with a small shell script would be both unethical and illegal. I wouldn't do it, but the idea still makes me giggle. is that schadenfreude?

From: