I know you said "probably," but, in fact, not all SWE commutes are optional. I once had a job programming a $50k test rig for a $75k piece of hardware, neither

I know you said "probably," but, in fact, not all SWE commutes are optional. I once had a job programming a $50k test rig for a $75k piece of hardware, neither of which existed outside of my company's test lab. You could SSH into the test rig, but there were other logistical issues that made that a painful way to work, and not something you'd want to do often. I didn't mind my commute, anyway, because it was a 5 minute bike ride or a 20 minute walk at a leisurely pace.