Is it ok to be Locked down at work?

Question

I recently just started my first gig as a professional programmer as part of small development team. At my work developers have two machines, a "web machine" for internet access and a "dev machine" for programming tasks. Our dev machines are completely sand-boxed to the point of not even having a CD drive access.

At first this was not an issue for me as I was just pleased to be getting a dual monitor set-up. In practice however, I have found that changing contexts between the two machines to be a significant handicap. Something as simple as copying an error message from the compiler into Google has become a hassle and more importantly a massive flow breaker.

I am using a keyboard switcher so I don't have to move my hands when making the switch but to be honest the biggest problem is not this but the lack of basic features such cut and paste between the two contexts. I know there are tools which allow one of the machines to remote the other over a network and that these tools can even persist the clip-board across the contexts however this is not an option for the following reason.

I am told the machines are arranged this way for source-code security. In other words they don't want the security risk associated with having the source even theoretically accessible from the internet and they also do not want developers being able to send the code off into the wild and perhaps selling it on to competitors etc. I can sort of understand the rational behind this but it all seems a bit arbitrary to me as a developer could probably get the code off their machine if he or she was inclined to do so. I must admit that it never really occurred to me that a company would try to protect source from its own developers.

I am still very much wet behind the ears so I would be very interested to hear the experiences and opinions of other stack overflow users on the issue.

Answer 1

Seems insanely paranoid to me ... I'd guess they score low on the Joel test.

Answer 2

I wouldn't call it insanely paranoid, but it does seem counterproductive.

Answer 3

developer could probably get the code off their machine if he or she was inclined to do so.

I agree with this assessment. I think a restricted environment destroys developer productivity. I keep our environment here open as possible (I draw the line at P2P of course), but other than that, it's open as it can be.

Answer 4

That seems somewhat over the top and completely unnecessary, personally. I utilize the web in my research every day, and as far as I'm aware, I've yet to have a security breach.

Answer 5

If the person in charge is reasonably tech-savvy, perhaps you could work out a way with him to use sandboxed virtual machines instead? That would probably be both easier to configure and easier to use.

However, I assume that whoever is in charge couldn't care less, or else this policy wouldn't be in place.

Answer 6

Are you able to install your own software? Sounds like Synergy would be the way to go :)

Description from web site:

synergy: [noun] a mutually advantageous conjunction of distinct elements Synergy lets you easily share a single mouse and keyboard between multiple computers with different operating systems, each with its own display, without special hardware. It's intended for users with multiple computers on their desk since each system uses its own monitor(s).

Redirecting the mouse and keyboard is as simple as moving the mouse off the edge of your screen. Synergy also merges the clipboards of all the systems into one, allowing cut-and-paste between systems. Furthermore, it synchronizes screen savers so they all start and stop together and, if screen locking is enabled, only one screen requires a password to unlock them all. Learn more about how it works.