Maintenence-free UNIX?

[RMG3 at psuvm.psu.edu]

  The question is - 'Is maintenence-free UNIX an oxymoron?'
  I have a very serious reason for asking the question, humorous
though it may seem at first glance.  I and another person have been
the system administrators for a set of SUNs here running the SUN OS
derivative of BSD.  A faculty member recently left on sabbatical, taking
a SUN 386i (also running unix) with him.  The problem is that he is not
a computer person, much less a unix guru.  Several things have happened
on the system which appear to have been avoidable by a knowledgeable
unix user, but probably not otherwise (system crashes and devices not
being recognized, for example).

  So can we set up _something_ on the system so that the system will run
without being touched by the hands of an administrator?  It needs to be
able to print, make tape backups, and support an ethernet connection.  The
user can change tapes (or disks) when told, but shouldn't have to know the
commands to issue.  We have come to the conclusion that unix as an operating
system is something like a Lambourghini (sp?) -- very powerful in the hands
of a skilled user, but it needs frequent retuning, also by a skilled person.

  It seems (vaguely) that BSD is more 'touchy' than SYSV.  The HP-UX version
(based on system 5)(what is the word for 'been the administrator of'?)
I had administered^ a couple years ago would run about 4 months between
bouts of serious intervention.  The SUN-OS system seems to require serious
intervention at least monthly.  Is it a common observation that BSD requires
a more active administrator than SYSV?

Thanks,
  If response warrants, I'll summarize to the group.

Bob Grumbine a.k.a. rmg3 at psuvm.psu.edu