IT boss left root session open for bring-your-kid-to-work day

In the 1990s, a reader identified as "Stockley" recounted an incident from their time working for a tech company that utilized IBM RS/6000 Unix machines. The company had a reputation for being family-friendly, allowing staff to bring their children to work on holidays, including Halloween. On one such occasion, the IT boss realized the children would disrupt work, so he initiated data processing early and invited his wife and kids to join the festivities.

To prevent the children from interrupting the ongoing root sessions, he parked them in his office in front of the terminals, which were already logged in as root. The boss's nine-year-old daughter, who had recently witnessed a movie featuring a young girl possessing Unix skills, jokingly declared that "SHUTDOWN" worked just like in the film.

Unfortunately, the boss paid the price for his daughter's playful demonstration, requiring 36 hours to repair the damage caused by her unauthorized actions.