Clueless Admins

Some people have no business maintaining Linux servers. I recently
had someone ask me to fix his non-working LAMP web app. He gave me
the contact details of the web host admin. So you can be spared the
pain I went through, here are six warning signs you might be dealing
with a novice Linux admin:

* You notice the "X-Mailer: Microsoft Windows Mail..." in your email
correspondence with said admin.

* You ask for SSH shell access and are told to use puddy [sic].

* You ask again for SSH access details and are told to "just select
the host from the dropdown menu".

* You are finally able to log in to the hosted account. Of course
most everything under the web root has permissions 666 and 777,
because "nothing worked unless we did that".

* There are a multitude or random iframe and pr0n infestations [see
the previous item].

* When you ask for root access to fix the egregious permissions
issues, are told no, because that would change permissions "system-
wide". And besides, he adds for good measure, "You could really
screw things up".