Re: Waddayamean "nowadays"?
First of all, you are ignoring the fact that the narrator of the story gave the visitor from Corporate the narrator's own root access to a live system. That is a big no-no, and has been since the 1950s, or perhaps earlier.
Secondly, yes, getting a user account can be difficult because bureaucracy. However, a systems administrator providing a tool for a Corporate troubleshooter isn't all that difficult. The dialogue goes something like this:
Me: This is $guest_admin from Corporate. I need you to sign this paperwork, authorizing me to create him an account with the permissions listed.
$BOSS: Excuse me? $CHANNELS!!! Weeks & months!!! It'sHowWeDoIt[tm]. G'way, I'm busy ::shifts gaze back to porn he thinks I don't know he's viewing::
Me: I'll send him back to corporate, then, with your name & number as the contact to explain the refusal to let him do his job.
$BOSS: ::sputter:: Excuse me?
Me: You heard me.
$BOSS: Where do I sign?
There is always a way around corporate roadblocks to getting things done. It's my job to know them ... and to have the cajones to implement them as necessary. That's what they pay me for.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
