Devs should be testing on slow machines - Re: What versions of Linux (or UNIX) are good on old 486 boxes?

On Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 09:12:19PM -0400, Toby Thain wrote: Software is rarely written by a single developer, but part of a team effort with a client or management dictating the trade-offs of hardware costs versus developer effort on performance improvements, reducing the defect rate, and/or adding more features. It's hardly fair to punish the developer for the capriciousness of their employer. As it so happens, outside of the willy-waving from Google et al about how well they treat their developers, most developers are treated like dirt and get whatever cast-off hardware the IT department deigns to let them have. I have fired a number of clients for taking the piss in this regard. No, if you want me to write Unix software for you, insisting that I must only use a ratty old Pentium 4 with 512MB of RAM running a locked-down Windows XP that won't even let me install PuTTY or an editor is not acceptable.