Do real admins use a mouse?

I guess I'm a real "throwback": On the main system I'm responsible for, there is no mouse! It's an IBM AIX box and I use an actual "ASCII-character" terminal, although it has an amber crt. The Windows servers have the usual mouse & keyboard attachments, although I know my way around without the mouse. This knowledge has come in handy solving mouse [hardware or software] troubles on desktops, too. It's my observation that younger people think that current hardware is reliable enough that they don't need to know these types of "work-arounds". I look at it that my approach always works, and if the mouse exists and works, that's just another way to navigate!

A real admin isn't hampered by the absense of a mouse; and can get the job done without one. In fact, they can often do it quicker without a mouse. I know I can.

This doesn't mean that the second I or someone else touches the mouse, we no longer are a "real admin."

In response to your last line, "... what other "generational" differences have you observed between older/younger admins?"

When I got into this business in 1985 most of the system administrators that I met were real social misfits. I had the opportunity to work at Digital Equipment Corporation many times in my career so I met many many system administrators and other tech support people.

Back then most of the system administrators that I met were like tyrants when it came to doing their job. Many were very mean to other people, particularly to end users. They acted like their employer had purchased its computers simply to give them a job.

The second half of the 1990s saw a huge influx of people into the field. Many of these people were friendly and oriented toward making computers work for the benefit of the end users and of the business. This huge change from tyrant to service provider created an entirely new feel to the workplace. This is a change that I was, and still am, very happy to see happen.

At the same time home computers became prevelant. When I got into this business most corporations couldn't afford a real computer and microcomputers were considered toys with no use in business. There were very few potential employers for system administrators and programmers. When we were employed most of our coworkers considered us to be like high priests who had been indoctrinated into a secret society. We were privy to mysteries that were beyond the grasp mortal men. Then, again in the 1990s when home computers became prevelant, people realized that computers didn't require incantations and sacrifices to work properly. Computers were just another piece of hardware like a telephone or a refrigerator. People began to view system administrators and programmers as everyday normal people. I miss being thought of as a high priest with mysterious knowledge.