> reasonable developer-friendly specs for the machines.
Nope.
The frugality principle is a disaster. It's a bad joke and the company uses it to justify the stupidest things.
The frugality principle is a disaster. It's a bad joke and the company uses it to justify the stupidest things.
The frugality comes from the fact that it's not Retina. Big whoop.
And that's not counting the H&S aspect RSI is not fun
I have a standing desk.
What am I missing?
I can walk around, go to meetings, sit on different floors, sit on couches, work from home and still be developing the same as I would at my desk.
All I'm trying to say is: Slightly faster builds on a powerful machine, or flexibility and consistency on a laptop. This might just be a matter of preference, and ideally companies should accommodate either preference.
The reason why I use a mac is because everything I build is deployed on Linux. Coding on a WIndows laptop means I wouldn't be able to compile anything, and coding on an Ubuntu laptop...well...I still like having a first world OS experience.
On windows Just use an X server or run Hyperv and run VM's
OSX is a fantastic development machine. Most developers use it. It completely fits all my needs and is provided for me by employer so that I can be happy and productive and effective. Which, as you remember, was the original criticism. That Amazon DOESN'T do that.
Also I spent a good deal of time building carrier grade software for major telco's (using map reduce I might add).
Serious developers develop on Identical hardware to the live system and I mean identical as in came of the line in the same batch.
Its all about removing risk
And I know what you're thinking. "Well your stuff is old, so you could obviously go in and get an upgrade!" Nope, went in the other day, literally, and was told I had to wait another year.
Frugality is absolutely widely misapplied at Amazon. Nearly every developer I've met that has been at Amazon for more than a year is dissatisfied with the hardware policy.
My first director at AMZN explained this to me early. Don't ask if you can have something. Establish that you need it, confirm with your manager that you need it, then go to people and say "I need this. I have manager approval." Don't ask, tell.