5 ms·

A few companies ago, our IT dept's nannyware had a bug on OSX that was causing it to peg a CPU core at random. So, in engineering, we obviously just found a wa

A few companies ago, our IT dept's nannyware had a bug on OSX that was causing it to peg a CPU core at random. So, in engineering, we obviously just found a way to disable it. The IT guys were not amused. "It is against IT policy to disable this software" - yeah, well, it's against my policy to let your stuff burn my legs; get the bug fixed and I'll turn it back on.

rejectfinite 4y ago
You think IT likes it? You think IT can fix the software? No. But if its antivirus or patching program. Come audit time: "Hey IT, why isent software X installed on all computers?" "Engineering dept found a way to disable it due to bugs in it!" "rah rah unacceptable, you neeed to ensure this is installed, rah rah fix now etc etc"
- skyyler 4y ago
  It must be nice to be able to implement substandard solutions and treat them as if they aren't substandard.
  - rejectfinite 4y ago
    Directors pay the bill.
    - dijit 4y ago
      But where are they getting the money? Surely everyone is beholden to everyone else in a company context? Directors aren't directly producing value, usually the software/sales/service is.
- nicoburns 4y ago
  And what do they do when the vulnerability is in software X?
  - rejectfinite 4y ago
    The vendor has to fix it.
- mcronce 4y ago
  IT can lean on the vendor to fix their shitty software. If the head of IT doesn't want to do that, the department is dysfunctionally managed and does not have my sympathy. Beyond that, I don't really care what policy is. While I generally don't care about company nannyware - after all, it's your machine - the line is drawn when you are literally burning my body. If you want me to use the device, it can't cause me physical harm.
  - rejectfinite 4y ago
    Using the computer under ANY type of load would cause that...
    - mcronce 4y ago
      Not really. It takes a sustained load over a long enough period of time to raise the temperature of the aluminum chassis to the point that it causes physical pain. If that's your use case, you have a point, but that's not most people's use cases, mine included. Imagine unironically defending this behavior.

rejectfinite 4y ago

You think IT likes it? You think IT can fix the software? No. But if its antivirus or patching program. Come audit time: "Hey IT, why isent software X installed on all computers?" "Engineering dept found a way to disable it due to bugs in it!" "rah rah unacceptable, you neeed to ensure this is installed, rah rah fix now etc etc"

skyyler 4y ago
It must be nice to be able to implement substandard solutions and treat them as if they aren't substandard.
- rejectfinite 4y ago
  Directors pay the bill.
  - dijit 4y ago
    But where are they getting the money? Surely everyone is beholden to everyone else in a company context? Directors aren't directly producing value, usually the software/sales/service is.
nicoburns 4y ago
And what do they do when the vulnerability is in software X?
- rejectfinite 4y ago
  The vendor has to fix it.
mcronce 4y ago
IT can lean on the vendor to fix their shitty software. If the head of IT doesn't want to do that, the department is dysfunctionally managed and does not have my sympathy. Beyond that, I don't really care what policy is. While I generally don't care about company nannyware - after all, it's your machine - the line is drawn when you are literally burning my body. If you want me to use the device, it can't cause me physical harm.
- rejectfinite 4y ago
  Using the computer under ANY type of load would cause that...
  - mcronce 4y ago
    Not really. It takes a sustained load over a long enough period of time to raise the temperature of the aluminum chassis to the point that it causes physical pain. If that's your use case, you have a point, but that's not most people's use cases, mine included. Imagine unironically defending this behavior.