SysAdmin: common contraction of "System Administrator". One who performs system administration.

system administration: Activities performed by a system administrator such as monitoring security configurations, managing allocation of user names and passwords, monitoring disk space and other resource use, performing backups, and setting up new hardware and software. The list is endless.

Samurai: In the former feudal system of Japan, the class or a member of the class, of military retainers of the daimios, constituting the gentry or lesser nobility. They possessed power of life and death over the commoners, and wore two swords as their distinguishing mark.

This should all be coming together now. If you're familiar with the modern office workplace you probably have a System Administrator working there somewhere. If you're really unlucky you have a Ronin SysAdmin (a Ronin is a masterless Samurai). This is probably worse than having no SysAdmin at all. Why? The Samurai SysAdmin (the one employed there) has more of a stake in the smooth operation of the company and is usually a masochist when it comes to the number of hours worked and tasks performed. Ronin will demand a higher price for less work and won't actually fight for the company. A company with neither is doomed to failure.

So, how does all of this fit into modern day society? If you've worked in any large corporation, you're probably aware of the similarities between the bureaucracy and a feudal society (in fact, a fuedal society was pretty much a bureaucracy to begin with). Lots of bosses (daimios) staking out their territories and the little war games never end. The Samurai SysAdmin is just one type of samurai employed by the daimios: one other, equally powerful type, is the Administrative Assistant. The Samurai SysAdmin's duties are many and can be quite difficult, as well as challenging. These duties won't be discussed to any detail here as modern storage devices are not up to the task of holding that much information.

Also of note here are the weapons used by the Samurai SysAdmin. The root password (katana), knowledge (spear), trouble-shooting skills (daikyu, or japanese long bow), and ruthlessness (the foot on the backs of the peasants). The wakizashi, traditionally used to perform seppuku (ritual suicide) has been tempered down to a cynical outlook on life known as "Down, not across." The "second" required for sepuku (the friend who cuts the samurai's head off after he disembowels himself) can easily be found in the Scary Devil Monastery.

Another important part of the Samurai tradition is the "Bushido," or "Way of the Warrior." The bushido is the unwritten code of moral principles, passed on orally, regulating the actions of the samurai. Recorded in written form only in the past couple centuries, here is a humorous paraphrasing of the bushido as a Samurai SysAdmin would see it.

I have no parents; I make init(8) my parent. I have no home; I make the network my home. I have no divine power; Screw that, I've got the root password. I have no means; I make users by me stuff. I have no magic power; I just tell users I do. I have neither life nor death; I have renice(1) and kill(1). I have no body; my diet isn't the best. I have no eyes; I sit too close to the screen(s). I have no ears; I listen to too much AC/DC. I have no limbs; I don't exercise much.			John Belushi, the greatest American Samurai
Toshiro Mifune - no one has done it better	I didn't have to change this part... I have no laws; I make Self-Protection my Laws. I have no strategy; I make the Right to Kill and the Right to Restore Life my Strategy. I have no designs; I make Seizing the Opportunity by the Forelock my Designs. I have no miracles; I make Righteous Laws my Miracle. I have no principles; I make Adaptability to all circumstances my Principle. I have no tactics; I make Emptiness and Fullness my Tactics. I have no talent; I make Ready Wit my Talent.
I have no friends; I have partners in crime. I have no enemy; Unless you count the Cleaning Lady. I have no armor; I make Malevolence my Armor. I have no castle; I only get a cubicle. I have no sword; I do, however, carry a very sharp knife.			The Seven Samurai - one Hell of a film

Mike Loseke