4 ms·

I had to work this way at one job for a certain retailer. One of the reasons I left for sure. The insufferable lag, tight restrictions on available software, et

I had to work this way at one job for a certain retailer. One of the reasons I left for sure. The insufferable lag, tight restrictions on available software, etc. All because your employer effectively doesn’t trust the people they hire, and doesn’t want to make a system sophisticated enough to accommodate them while also tackling security issues. Seriously stop doing this, you’re losing your best people when you do this.

pxc 3y ago
Sometimes I hear people at work discuss exploring or using VDI, in part as an effort to improve security, and every time I wince. I really hope that such a thing does not become popular among tech employers.
- moribvndvs 3y ago
  We’ve been using it for contractors, because there’s a competency gap and policy conflict between our org and the contractor’s. Oh and sometimes licensing issues. It absolutely sucks. Slows them down considerably and is a consistent source of tech support problems. Throwing away money and time at the wrong problem (either find a better contractor or direct hire people you trust).
- p_l 3y ago
  The real problem is that VDI is very often deployed with the same kind of approaches and incentives that lead to infamously slow corporate Windows computer trope. Doing VDI right is not trivial, but also not ridiculously hard - saying this as both user and someone who helped build a security-oriented VDI for insurance giant. Unfortunately even places that should know better like certain (no longer in play) giant bank ... Often don't. Which is why users had an unofficial guide to do things like disabling certain graphics settings so the mouse didn't lag, something that should have been done globally by operations.
  - ShamelessC 3y ago
    > disabling certain graphics settings so the mouse didn't lag the reason there’s lag is because the speed of light has an upper bound. Disable my transparent window decorations is just going to piss me off even more. The entire idea belongs in the trash. Give me a laptop. This is tech. I like nice tech things. Give me a nice laptop and let me use that speed and latency. Apologies but the main reason I am so passionate about this is that there’s a large amount of people who actually get used to this and don’t even have a say in the matter because losing their job is also a risk of losing the ability to live in America. The people who tend to implement such a system similarly also probably don’t have to use it as much or at all.
    - p_l 3y ago
      The mouse lag was related to how, for various reasons, instead of doing local compositing of the mouse pointer, it had to be sent back to server, composited there, and sent back again, just to enable nice shadows. That was one such setting. As for the time I implemented the setup - we tried to deliver as good environment as we could given physical and regulatory constraints available. Our solution meant that people could move around, use their preferred environments for all other work, while not having "sad men from german federal government" showing up if, for example, they lost a laptop on a train. This also meant that they could work on the data from home (which became extra important as COVID hit) instead of closed off section of few offices where they might have to undergo searches at entry and exit. Personally I nearly risked the job myself just to deliver on the promise that the end user was never asked for a password after initial login (or when unlocking the screen). We also did use the environment ourselves because sometimes it was easiest way to connect there at all. You can do VDI right - but usually the reason to even spend money on anything non-token is because there are really important reasons to go that way. And it's not like you're going to be allowed to do whatever you want on a laptop if you're going to touch sensitive data.
      - ShamelessC 3y ago
        It has been my experience that, despite workers being paid a bit/lot less, German employers are in general much more respectful of them as human beings, and this seemed to apply to government policy as well. Mostly referring to much more time off for vacation. So I will concede that if there’s one place this might work, it would be Germany. In America, however, it’s generally best to assume the employer has explicit incentives to screw the workers over.
halJordan 3y ago
Also this guy and every other employee: I refuse to obey even the most minimal cybersecurity policies
- ShamelessC 3y ago
  You seem fun… Maybe don’t force your biases on me. I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with non compliance from people using systems you design or work on. I agree that it’s incredibly common. I happen to understand the importance of following good security protocols. I just don’t want to follow bad ones. Although I of course will (and had to in order to do my job in this instance). I did quit the job partially because of the VDI, but again that didn’t effect any one in the IS team. Understanding that might go a long way towards getting people to comply with your requirements.

pxc 3y ago

Sometimes I hear people at work discuss exploring or using VDI, in part as an effort to improve security, and every time I wince. I really hope that such a thing does not become popular among tech employers.

moribvndvs 3y ago
We’ve been using it for contractors, because there’s a competency gap and policy conflict between our org and the contractor’s. Oh and sometimes licensing issues. It absolutely sucks. Slows them down considerably and is a consistent source of tech support problems. Throwing away money and time at the wrong problem (either find a better contractor or direct hire people you trust).
p_l 3y ago
The real problem is that VDI is very often deployed with the same kind of approaches and incentives that lead to infamously slow corporate Windows computer trope. Doing VDI right is not trivial, but also not ridiculously hard - saying this as both user and someone who helped build a security-oriented VDI for insurance giant. Unfortunately even places that should know better like certain (no longer in play) giant bank ... Often don't. Which is why users had an unofficial guide to do things like disabling certain graphics settings so the mouse didn't lag, something that should have been done globally by operations.
- ShamelessC 3y ago
  > disabling certain graphics settings so the mouse didn't lag the reason there’s lag is because the speed of light has an upper bound. Disable my transparent window decorations is just going to piss me off even more. The entire idea belongs in the trash. Give me a laptop. This is tech. I like nice tech things. Give me a nice laptop and let me use that speed and latency. Apologies but the main reason I am so passionate about this is that there’s a large amount of people who actually get used to this and don’t even have a say in the matter because losing their job is also a risk of losing the ability to live in America. The people who tend to implement such a system similarly also probably don’t have to use it as much or at all.
  - p_l 3y ago
    The mouse lag was related to how, for various reasons, instead of doing local compositing of the mouse pointer, it had to be sent back to server, composited there, and sent back again, just to enable nice shadows. That was one such setting. As for the time I implemented the setup - we tried to deliver as good environment as we could given physical and regulatory constraints available. Our solution meant that people could move around, use their preferred environments for all other work, while not having "sad men from german federal government" showing up if, for example, they lost a laptop on a train. This also meant that they could work on the data from home (which became extra important as COVID hit) instead of closed off section of few offices where they might have to undergo searches at entry and exit. Personally I nearly risked the job myself just to deliver on the promise that the end user was never asked for a password after initial login (or when unlocking the screen). We also did use the environment ourselves because sometimes it was easiest way to connect there at all. You can do VDI right - but usually the reason to even spend money on anything non-token is because there are really important reasons to go that way. And it's not like you're going to be allowed to do whatever you want on a laptop if you're going to touch sensitive data.
    - ShamelessC 3y ago
      It has been my experience that, despite workers being paid a bit/lot less, German employers are in general much more respectful of them as human beings, and this seemed to apply to government policy as well. Mostly referring to much more time off for vacation. So I will concede that if there’s one place this might work, it would be Germany. In America, however, it’s generally best to assume the employer has explicit incentives to screw the workers over.

halJordan 3y ago

Also this guy and every other employee: I refuse to obey even the most minimal cybersecurity policies

ShamelessC 3y ago
You seem fun… Maybe don’t force your biases on me. I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with non compliance from people using systems you design or work on. I agree that it’s incredibly common. I happen to understand the importance of following good security protocols. I just don’t want to follow bad ones. Although I of course will (and had to in order to do my job in this instance). I did quit the job partially because of the VDI, but again that didn’t effect any one in the IS team. Understanding that might go a long way towards getting people to comply with your requirements.