Steady State

Fiddling

The third edition of Roget’s Thesaurus offers the following definition for the word fiddling: “To handle something idly, ignorantly, or destructively.” It offers helpful synonyms such as fool, meddle, tamper, tinker, and monkey. Fiddling is often followed by a second of “oh no,” that very short moment in time during which we realize that we’ve pressed the wrong key and brought down a server, deleted vital data, or otherwise damaged the peace and harmony of stable operations.

Every single time a human touches a server is an opportunity for unforced ...