Software Developers Should Have Sysadmin Experience

Somewhat related, I feel that mechanical engineers who design cars should have some experience servicing vehicles.

Sometimes engineers will not leave enough space, use weird fasteners, etc. that make a simple job much more complex.

Please fuck off. Software developers should have this, should have that.. meanwhile, you can eat burgers, get fat, blame H1B and contribute to PC culture.

That is a function of design requirements, not lack of foresight. If your manager tells you the cab needs to be 20% roomier without changing the outside dimensions, or they change the engine going into the thing without changing the structural integrity of the car, there goes your maintenance space.

Sysadmin knowledge definitely helps, but so does an MBA, knowledge of writing, public speaking, design, user experience, networking. Oh, and the domain of the problem itself.

The skills I require of my developers depend on the rest of the team and the project.

No. Developers do not necessarily need any experience as a sysadmin and I would advise against moving productive developers into this role for the purpose of misguided training.

The argument about understanding how code scales beyond one computer is fallacious. In fact it's quite easy to learn and practice all kinds of distributed high scale architectures without getting up from a desk.

I will agree it's important to understand the people and work connected to your job. It's probably a good idea to eat lunch with the sysadmin, or QA, or UX person.

Would also agree its important to have respect, empathy, and collaboration others, but it doesn't mean you need to switch jobs.