Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Ask HN: How locked down are your work machines?

I've been working as a Software Engineer for 20+ years.

Places I worked in the early years barely had an IT department at all. As a developer you were expected to be able to maintain your machine. We'd install whatever we want, experiment with different operating systems, etc. Total free rein, box was our tool to get work done with, they didn't care how you did it.

That went away a long time ago. Basic corporate spyware and rules came pretty early but still free rein over our tools.

I've worked with the same company for close to a decade now, and they have been tightening and tightening the noose slowly but surely. We're purportedly a software company, but we lost admin rights, installable software went from a blocklist to an allowlist. Everything we install needs to get approved by IT, and that approval takes weeks.

Today they took our Chrome extensions away. They've got an allowlist of about 15 extensions we can install. Everything I submitted for approval got rejected.

I'm frustrated with this arrangement and am wondering how standard this is these days in this industry?

So I'm genuinely curious, Hacker News: How big of a company do you work for, what industry, and how locked down is your machine?


Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46710403

Points: 1

# Comments: 0



from Hacker News: Newest https://ift.tt/Ye568Ct
via IFTTT

Taylor Swift makes history as she joins Songwriters Hall of Fame

The US pop superstar is among nine songwriters who have been inducted into the 2026 class.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/36EbA9G
via IFTTT

Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Sunday, January 18, 2026

Trump: One Year Later

Article URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/opinion/trump-one-year-later.html

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46671289

Points: 1

# Comments: 1



from Hacker News: Newest https://ift.tt/G4gqQra
via IFTTT

'Abandoned' or 'business' – was Glasner right to 'attack' Palace owners?

Oliver Glasner's outburst after Crystal Palace were beaten at Sunderland has led to increased speculation over his future at the club but will he be sacked?

from BBC News https://ift.tt/kbWuY80
via IFTTT

She built an AI bot of her mother to help her grieve

Article URL: https://restofworld.org/2026/james-multon-love-machines-book-ai-companions/ Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id...