[giraffe_lady]

I mentor kids in a large city who depend on the library for internet. They can walk there but they can only use a computer for 30 minute blocks. Then they need to get back in line until their turn comes up again. Afternoon weekdays there are probably 4-5 students for each computer.

It's beyond "inconvenient" for them, it's a major obstacle to their academic success.

[datavirtue]

I need three hours to find minor gaff bug, sometimes. Are they able to install development tools on these machines?

[giraffe_lady]

lmao no absolutely not. They can download files or plug in thumb drives, and can run executables that way if they haven't been specifically blacklisted. But the machine is effectively wiped at the end of the session.

They pass around software that works this way and I've seen some pretty sophisticated teen thumb drive workflows lol. But the library IT dept here has cop mentality and they don't like to see anything that looks too much like "real" software so it's a constantly evolving situation they have to navigate.