How do you support IT?

Someone was telling me recently about a business that employs technical staff to support their Linux systems. Apparently, the Linux staff at this company are expected to use a Microsoft Windows desktop system and connect to the Linux servers using PuTTY.

What are the management of that company thinking? Different things matter to different people, and for technical staff employed to manage Linux systems, it’s unlikely they’d choose a Windows desktop. If they did, I’d question whether they are the right people for the role.

What makes a great working environment for the best Linux staff? We can start by giving them whatever keyboard, monitor and mouse they want. Add in real coffee, soft drinks and snacks for free. Include remote working for at least some of the time. Oh, and yes, Linux on the desktop should go without saying.

That’s how I believe technical staff should be treated. Let’s start a movement to define the optimal working environment for the very best technical staff. What would you add to that list? How does your company treat its technical staff? Mail me on keith@tiger-computing.co.uk with your ideas, and I’ll report the best ones in a future column.