We give admin privileges out very sparingly. The main people who get
it are laptop users who are travelling because there are too many ways
for things to go wrong which can't be fixed reliably without admin
access.
One approach which can work well is to sit down with the company (or
some percentage of) and ask them what they need admin access for and
work with them to make a list that both sides think are reasonable.
And then figure out ways of allowing them to do those things without
giving them full admin (sudo, /etc/authorization, etc etc).
Adam.
On 29/10/2009, at 3:49 PM, Sean Laverty wrote:
Hi.
I just wanted to ping everyone out there about a contentious
policy/philosophy issue ? user admin rights on the desktop.
I?ve historically worked at studios where I/we maintained a
restrictive, default-deny policy on users? ability to install things
on their workstations. It was generally S.O.P. in Unix/Irix
environments back in the 90?s, and as we began making wider use of
Windows during this decade it made sense (from a supportability
standpoint) to retain a similarly restrictive philosophy on Windows.
My current studio started out as a small Windows shop where
everyone had ( and still has on Windows desktops ) carte blanche to
do as they please with the installed software. Since I was hired on
as part of a long-term growth strategy ? and we have grown, from 20
to 130+ full-time personnel ? we?ve begun to consider rolling back
some of those freedoms. Particularly in our recent OS X deployment
we?ve implemented a very restrictive policy.
The torches and pitchforks haven?t yet come out, but the stirrings
of Le Revolution can be heard in whispers and seen written on the
walls (and in email threads). I?m cool with that, so long as a
restrictive policy is the best choice. I have my own experiences
and priorities on the matter, but it?d still be valuable to seek a
broader, community perspective for a sanity check.
Where do all of your studios draw the line on user admin rights?
Do the size of your studio and your admin-to-artist ratio greatly
influence your policy decisions? Do you seek a best balance between
user contentment and supportability? In your experience, what level
of freedom works best in CG studios?
-Sean
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