Because of this system it's a lot easier to make all sorts of test images. We can automatically load up a base copy of, say, Windows 2003 (with or without $database), install $OurBigApp version foo.bar.baz.quux, then get the admin to save that "pristine" copy so that no one else ever again has to install this particular configuration.

Huzzah!

But what about operating system base images? That's where it gets tricky. Only the admins have access to set VMWare to point the "CD drive" to an ISO image in order to install a new OS. Rusty knows not of Red Hat or SuSE and with gentle prodding can be convinced to accept a new, latest-and-greatest ISO from ftp.novell.com, but he does know Windows. He knows that Vista is beta and that we don't support beta.

Windows XP was once beta, too, as was Windows 2003. We still loaded them up and tested throughout the beta period, not in any official capacity (that's a job for QA and Engineering) but to get a feel for it and find out where the pitfalls are. Playing with the betas lets us find out where the hell Microsoft stuck all the menus after shuffling everything around again, allowing us to rewrite our boilerplate explanations on which menus to use to perform certain tasks.

We also find out if there's a way to tweak the system and rewrite scripts or configurations so that $OurBigApp will run on these new versions. This allows customers who migrate immediately upon release an unsupported but workable method and saves Engineering resources; QA can just test our fix and approve it.

But up until a couple years ago, the labs were local and loading a new OS only required people to be nice to me. By "nice" I mean "sending me a mail telling me what you need and letting me finish what I'm in the middle of before pissing and moaning that it's not ready."

It's different now. It's all Rusty's baby. Rusty doesn't think we should be wasting his time and ours on unsupported beta software. Rusty refuses to load a Vista ISO image. He demands line manager approval. He demands team manager approval. He demands general management approval. He demands I show the software license despite our having a full MSDN worldwide subscription. There is no license. It's fucking beta software that Microsoft is offering to the entire fucking world which will expire in a few months!

We need to be ready for the eventual release of IE7 and Vista but Rusty doesn't care. He knows it's beta and he's in charge. The separation of labs from the general management organisation -- once such a a relief -- is now preventing me from preparation.

I'm not asking for Vista to be installed as a base OS; it's not a server OS anyway. I only want to install a fucking VMWare image. He doesn't need to do the actual configuration. He doesn't need to administrate the software. He only has to click three buttons, a filename, and "OK". Nevertheless, he's fighting back.

I have to fight with Rusty.
To install basic software.
On a virtual machine.
Software we will soon have to support.

Fuckwit.