5 ms·

I don't work at places that aren't already coughing up for the right tools. Literally. I have declined jobs because of this and would leave my current employer

I don't work at places that aren't already coughing up for the right tools. Literally. I have declined jobs because of this and would leave my current employer if this happened.

michaelochurch 15y ago
In my experience, the best tools are usually free.
- markokocic 15y ago
  It's true that sometimes the best tools are free, but there are a lot of organizations where you are not allowed to use even those free tools as they are not approved by some legal or IT department. The fact that those tools are free doesn't make a big difference for BigCo types of organizations.
- eslachance 15y ago
  It depends on your level of expertise and the type of tool. For instance, Sphinx to write documentation is free, but you need to have at least a desire to write in markup to create it, and I'm assuming that single-sourcing multiple user manuals with conditional text and variables is not exactly trivial. Plus, sharing the writing of such a user manual between more than one person requires the use of a third-party solution, a version control system, which also requires some training & expertise to use properly. Where as, on the other hand, if you can convince your boss to dish out $200 a month per user for something like Author-It, you get an extremely powerful system that does everything an authoring tool is supposed to. That's what I'm trying to do right now with my boss, convince him to switch (not from Sphinx, but from another cheaper software solution called Flare), and it's not an easy task.
- GoodIntentions 15y ago
  I've found a great deal of resistance in using free tools. Tools that cost 4 figures seem to sit "just about right" in the managerial mindset where I come from. Some managerial cultures seem to really ( _really_ ) want to see cash laid out for anything before they will believe it holds any virtue.
  - mcrider 15y ago
    I'm in the opposite situation -- I work for an Open Source project and using anything but open source software is pretty much a last resort, even though there are some (cheap) paid solutions that are better. Even free SaaS products are seen as bad as we don't 'own' the code (even moving to Github was a tough transition -- and we were using CVS!). The only way to move to one of these products is to use it on my own (as someone else has mentioned) and continually make the case for others on the team to use it.
- baztoune 15y ago
  The best tools are the ones that cost less than they make you save.
- lexalizer 15y ago
  Big companies don't usually go for free, because of the risk involved. To answer op: Nothing. Been trying for a long time, but no luck.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- Kiro 15y ago
  Considering I am working in a construction company I couldn't disagree more.
- SNK 15y ago
  30" monitors....

I don't work at places that aren't already coughing up for the right tools. Literally. I have declined jobs because of this and would leave my current employer if this happened.

michaelochurch 15y ago

In my experience, the best tools are usually free.

markokocic 15y ago
It's true that sometimes the best tools are free, but there are a lot of organizations where you are not allowed to use even those free tools as they are not approved by some legal or IT department. The fact that those tools are free doesn't make a big difference for BigCo types of organizations.
eslachance 15y ago
It depends on your level of expertise and the type of tool. For instance, Sphinx to write documentation is free, but you need to have at least a desire to write in markup to create it, and I'm assuming that single-sourcing multiple user manuals with conditional text and variables is not exactly trivial. Plus, sharing the writing of such a user manual between more than one person requires the use of a third-party solution, a version control system, which also requires some training & expertise to use properly. Where as, on the other hand, if you can convince your boss to dish out $200 a month per user for something like Author-It, you get an extremely powerful system that does everything an authoring tool is supposed to. That's what I'm trying to do right now with my boss, convince him to switch (not from Sphinx, but from another cheaper software solution called Flare), and it's not an easy task.
GoodIntentions 15y ago
I've found a great deal of resistance in using free tools. Tools that cost 4 figures seem to sit "just about right" in the managerial mindset where I come from. Some managerial cultures seem to really ( _really_ ) want to see cash laid out for anything before they will believe it holds any virtue.
- mcrider 15y ago
  I'm in the opposite situation -- I work for an Open Source project and using anything but open source software is pretty much a last resort, even though there are some (cheap) paid solutions that are better. Even free SaaS products are seen as bad as we don't 'own' the code (even moving to Github was a tough transition -- and we were using CVS!). The only way to move to one of these products is to use it on my own (as someone else has mentioned) and continually make the case for others on the team to use it.
baztoune 15y ago
The best tools are the ones that cost less than they make you save.
lexalizer 15y ago
Big companies don't usually go for free, because of the risk involved. To answer op: Nothing. Been trying for a long time, but no luck.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
Kiro 15y ago
Considering I am working in a construction company I couldn't disagree more.
SNK 15y ago
30" monitors....