Compilations for the administrator
It was not all that long ago when major system administrator guidelines included a requirement that any mid-level or senior administrator had to be well acquainted with the details of standard software compilation processes. Of course, all knowledge is good, and we would never say that it should not be learned at all. However, even at the time, this seemed like an odd amount of under-the-hood development knowledge and knowledge about the packaging of individual software solutions expected to be known by a person in a non-development role.
It would not be unlike if when ordering a new car from your favorite car company that it was expected to be delivered as parts and that every potential new car owner would be expected to assemble the car before driving it. It is important to note that this process was only ever possible in the open-source world and that the majority of software outside of the Linux space and even a significant portion within...