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Started a new job as a dev. First days revealed no local admin rights, no right to use Linux locally and a very limited set of Software. Negotiated compromise to get a remote VM with Linux and a user who is part of sudo. VM turned out to be isolated by proxy, so I can not install anything new. At least Docker is pre-installed and I hoped it could work out. But guess what no access to dockerhub and I can not pull any images. Admin told me to copy manually the images with scp.

I'd never thought that there could be any companies out there who treats devs like that. What puzzles me most, there're lot of devs staying with that company for years, even decades already and they're good guys, please don't get me wrong.

Did you encounter anything like that? Could you make any difference there, where you met anything like it.

I reached the point after 3 weeks where I do not think I can make any difference and when it'll take ages to move people and company policy.
I do not want to give up, but I fear it is pointless to fight for change there. I am out of options and about to leave asap. Can you recommend me anything else?

Thanks in advance and for your time :)
Felt good to write it down.

Comments
  • 1
    Btw they're about to migrate to docker...
  • 4
    The problem is, while blocking your own devs is annoying, sometimes its a necessity for the sake of security and management.

    But, if you're denied the most basic things constantly I can see how that pisses one of very quickly.
  • 1
    I'm in a similar situation, with the added bonus of having an archaic support ticketing system I have to use to request new software.

    Im just glad that I work primarily on cloud stuff. After waiting two months for the software team to install Python on my laptop, I gave up and spun up an instance in AWS and now I do almost all my development on that server.

    I do have the benefit of local admin rights on my laptop, but I am expressly forbidden from using those rights to install software. I may have bent that rule by downloading a ton of portable software, though...
  • 0
    @EmberQuill That instance must cost them a shit tonne more than if they actually got you what you needed quickly!
    Smart move haha.
  • 1
    I also once worked for a company that didn't trust its devs. No local admin privs, lengthy approval process for 2$ replacement cables, the full red tape deal.
    Here's the thing. Company cultures are self selecting. If you're treating your employees like children, the ones that accept that and stay are exactly that.
  • 1
    @badcopnodonuts I work for a big financial services company and it's a t2.small so I don't think anybody cares. Big companies earn and spend so much money that an extra $20/month isn't even a blip on their radar.

    I did eventually just download miniconda portable so I could get Python, since the request I submitted has apparently vanished into the ether.
  • 2
    Whenever I've been saddled with restrictions like this, I've used ssh tunnels and proxies. My thought is that if they installed and opened ssh to the world, they accept that I can use its default, built-in features. Ignorance on their part is not an acceptable excuse.
  • 1
    Here is what I have learned in the last 2 years at 3 separate companies.

    If you join a company and discover that they don't do thingfs properly, and you are not in a leadership position, and you don't want to work that way, quit witiin the first week.

    It is an utter waste of time to join a company and trick yourself into thinking you can make any sort of difference.

    I just give up now and settle for complete garbage.
  • 0
    @craig939393
    I appreciate your reply and agree with you to some degree. But 3 companies in 2 years sounds to me either you really have bad luck or your looking for the company we all dream of or you do consultence or freelance work.

    I'm back and forth, but somehow I've got the feeling to try not to give up that fast. But at the end you could be right :)
  • 0
    @EmberQuill and @bahua
    Thanks, thats something I might try. SSH my way through to a working environment I like and can work productively with.

    Perhaps I just try AWS or GCP, or can you recommend another cloud service not to big and not too expensive?
  • 0
    @tpiekarski I tried not giving up but it makes your team lead look bad to his boss and then you ha e problems with team lead. Has happe Ed twice, now I give up and we have no test process or qa team but cba to make trouble for myself. We release soon but fuck it.
  • 0
    @tpiekarski

    I ssh into my own machine at home, and to a machine I have in a friend's basement, on google fiber. Though if either of those fail, I have some hosts with SSDnodes and digitalocean I can use. I like these both very, very much. SSDnodes for the pricing, and digitalocean for the granular control over its extremely capable API.
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