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So you as a developer are not allowed to install a code editor... To edit code... Which is... Your profession... So you need to use a Web browser as a code edi

So you as a developer are not allowed to install a code editor... To edit code... Which is... Your profession... So you need to use a Web browser as a code editor because... Installing a binary to the disk is not allowed? It's crazy!

conductr 5y ago
I work in finance and as you’d guess my main app is Excel. 9/10 big companies I worked for are on a >5 year old license at any given point. Since it’s so heavily tied in with outlook, exchange, etc. and they typically tie a office version to a windows version these days, it’s so frustrating constantly having to use outdated software for no good reason. As you said, it’s crazy!
- dolmen 5y ago
  There are good reasons: some of your finance colleagues have done crazy spreadsheets with that old Excel version and everybody fears of breaking business if those critical spreadsheets break.
  - conductr 5y ago
    That’s not usually the case. That’s what IT department thinks is the reason, but finance can and does deal with broken files all the time for a variety of reasons. I think what you’re referencing is when the IT department asks me and my team, do any processes break if we change version’s? And the answer is always, please we’ve been asking for years. Occasionally there is an add on we use that becomes a dependency. I feel like that was more of an issue in the past. Now that basically everything is 64 bit compatible, we do some testing and tell IT no risk here. Excel has good support for rolling forward. Not always backwards compatible, but going forward breaking is quite rare. Things like XLS to XLSX happen rarely and they still largely work moving forward. When I talk to the IT guys it’s more about reliance on exchange servers, outlook/calendar, and of course the corporate licensing that makes upgrading just for us finance guys difficult
tex0 5y ago
Well, works for us.
joe5150 5y ago
If you're an employee with a work computer you don't have an admin account on, there's a reasonable chance you can convince someone to install something you need. If you're a student in a computer lab, that's likely out of the question.
oriki 5y ago
You've never wanted to edit text/code on a computer that isn't yours before? There are a lot of cases where I can see this coming in handy for making quick edits as an IT professional, especially in cases where I need to mess with a slightly complex file on an end user's machine but don't have the time or desire to copy it back to my own. It's a tool, you don't have to use it.
pjmlp 5y ago
Yes, quite common on Fortune 500.
IggleSniggle 5y ago
I think the craziness of it is highly context dependent. If you're expected to be running everything in "the cloud" anyway, then as long as you have execute permissions on the cloud computer you are authorized to...ok no now wait a minute, you're right. This is crazy no matter how you slice it. M: "Ok, here's your company issued computer. You're not allowed to do anything with it, because security and IP." D: "Ok, but I need a computer to compile unique code, and I need to be able to execute that code..." M: "Good news! We bought lots of cloud compute, so you can do whatever you need or want with your compute!" D: "...how is this different." M: "Well you see, we didn't issue those computers. So if something bad happens, it isn't because of us. It's because of the cloud." D: "...but if something 'bad' only happens because of the code that I wrote, isn't it still bad whether its running here or there?" M: "Fine! If something bad happens, it's your fault, not the cloud, because we didn't do it, and of course the cloud is infallible." D: "I'm not working here." M: "..." D: "..."
- afiori 5y ago
  Or the steelmanned version M: "Here is your company laptop for policy reasons it is the same as every other laptop in the company" D: "But I need to install and compile more stuff..." M: "We know so we have provided a developer environment tailored to your needs, we understand it might be inconvenient but it might also allow for :generic inspirational stuff: D: "oh, ok"

conductr 5y ago

I work in finance and as you’d guess my main app is Excel. 9/10 big companies I worked for are on a >5 year old license at any given point. Since it’s so heavily tied in with outlook, exchange, etc. and they typically tie a office version to a windows version these days, it’s so frustrating constantly having to use outdated software for no good reason. As you said, it’s crazy!

dolmen 5y ago
There are good reasons: some of your finance colleagues have done crazy spreadsheets with that old Excel version and everybody fears of breaking business if those critical spreadsheets break.
- conductr 5y ago
  That’s not usually the case. That’s what IT department thinks is the reason, but finance can and does deal with broken files all the time for a variety of reasons. I think what you’re referencing is when the IT department asks me and my team, do any processes break if we change version’s? And the answer is always, please we’ve been asking for years. Occasionally there is an add on we use that becomes a dependency. I feel like that was more of an issue in the past. Now that basically everything is 64 bit compatible, we do some testing and tell IT no risk here. Excel has good support for rolling forward. Not always backwards compatible, but going forward breaking is quite rare. Things like XLS to XLSX happen rarely and they still largely work moving forward. When I talk to the IT guys it’s more about reliance on exchange servers, outlook/calendar, and of course the corporate licensing that makes upgrading just for us finance guys difficult

tex0 5y ago

Well, works for us.

joe5150 5y ago

If you're an employee with a work computer you don't have an admin account on, there's a reasonable chance you can convince someone to install something you need. If you're a student in a computer lab, that's likely out of the question.

oriki 5y ago

You've never wanted to edit text/code on a computer that isn't yours before? There are a lot of cases where I can see this coming in handy for making quick edits as an IT professional, especially in cases where I need to mess with a slightly complex file on an end user's machine but don't have the time or desire to copy it back to my own. It's a tool, you don't have to use it.

pjmlp 5y ago

Yes, quite common on Fortune 500.

IggleSniggle 5y ago

I think the craziness of it is highly context dependent. If you're expected to be running everything in "the cloud" anyway, then as long as you have execute permissions on the cloud computer you are authorized to...ok no now wait a minute, you're right. This is crazy no matter how you slice it. M: "Ok, here's your company issued computer. You're not allowed to do anything with it, because security and IP." D: "Ok, but I need a computer to compile unique code, and I need to be able to execute that code..." M: "Good news! We bought lots of cloud compute, so you can do whatever you need or want with your compute!" D: "...how is this different." M: "Well you see, we didn't issue those computers. So if something bad happens, it isn't because of us. It's because of the cloud." D: "...but if something 'bad' only happens because of the code that I wrote, isn't it still bad whether its running here or there?" M: "Fine! If something bad happens, it's your fault, not the cloud, because we didn't do it, and of course the cloud is infallible." D: "I'm not working here." M: "..." D: "..."

afiori 5y ago
Or the steelmanned version M: "Here is your company laptop for policy reasons it is the same as every other laptop in the company" D: "But I need to install and compile more stuff..." M: "We know so we have provided a developer environment tailored to your needs, we understand it might be inconvenient but it might also allow for :generic inspirational stuff: D: "oh, ok"