[fuzzix]

"A lot of my problems with IT departments would be solved if the IT folks recognized that people with degrees in computer engineering and computer science tend to be able to take care of their own machines"

But that's not true. I work as a developer or an admin depending on my mood and the money, I would not consider one able to do the job of the other even though I have done each with the same degree in hand.

The discipline of designing stable, maintainable systems & networks or writing code to requirements precisely and accessibly are distinct and often wildly different. Little of it comes with your degree.

That said, my current gig is quite good in that regard: "We support A, B and C. If you want to use X and Z you're on your own. Here are the guidelines on security and patching."

[Bo102010]

I don't doubt that the skills that make a good system admin are distinct from those that make a good engineer.

I do doubt that the people making and enforcing IT policies that, e.g. lead to insecure versions of Java being installed on thousands of machines, are more capable than I am at managing the machine I need to use.

[mkopinsky]

It's not only a question of skills, it's a question of knowledge.

I am a good developer, but I don't have the slightest clue about e.g. ActiveDirectory. The IT department in my company is nothing spectacular, but when it comes to the kind of issues that I know nothing about, I am glad they have set policies that I just need to follow unthinkingly.