28 November 2010

Trust, But Verify

In setting up this blog, my intention has been to submit posts that are
technically sound and accurate.  The posts could then serve me in the
future as reference and hopefully be of service to others.  A comment I
received about one of my posts caused me to go back and read thoroughly
every detail of it.  Since I had originally written the details almost
2 years ago and only recently posted it here, I was trusting that my
original notes were sound.  Though they were mostly accurate, some areas
were lacking.  If someone were to follow those particular notes to the
finest detail, they likely would have had problems.  As a result, I
retracted the post until I can correct it.

So why am I posting this, much less criticizing myself?  It's because
of one simple phrase, "Trust, but verify."  This holds true for this or
any other blog, or any other material that you may use as reference.
Essentailly, trust that the material is accurate, but still test it
first in a non-production environment before using it in your own and
possibly wreaking havoc on a priority system.  Though the author may
have had good intentions, it doesn't mean he / she is right or that
their information entirely accurate or complete.

You can take this as a 'mea culpa,' a rant, or whatever.  What you do
with your systems of your own accord is solely your responsibility.
Given the potential for issue, especially with complex setups, it would
seem an otherwise trivial matter to take the time to verify that the
reference material you use is correct.