My company's IT bans installing anything outside of their software application management/installation application. All software goes through a laborious approval process.
> Unfortunately, as part of my special duties, I need to run an operating system that is not compatible with this framework.
Sadly the answer my employer has in that case: buy a VMWare Workstation License in the store and use you special snowflake OS in there. Still better than nothing but also a bit annoying.
I am sure it is not a common workflow, but I have done most of my work inside VMS pretty much exclusively for years.
It makes it so easy to freeze the state of a project, do backups, quick snapshots. Archive finished projects. Removes any fear of upgrading. Keeps work clean, I need to know project dependencies when starting a new one on a fresh VM.
It keeps my base system very barebones with respect to software installed. I can also get up and running with a new host machine upgrade by simply copying the vms to the new host.
In my experience, the IT friction is usually higher the larger the company. Since plenty of people work at large companies, restrictive IT departments is a frequent concern.
Unfortunately, as part of my special duties, I need to run an operating system that is not compatible with this framework.