> Even if we agree that $ 1000 (per nose) is nothing, who's going to spend that? No clue how this works in other companies, but here you have to make a case, get X people from management to agree. Why would they? "I would be more productive"? Without snark, I'd really like to see a case for a purchase like this that could work in my scenario.
From what you're saying, and I'm not saying this to rip on you: I doubt one exists, and it doesn't sound, from your description, like making one would be an ethical maneuver anyway. I don't work in Microsoft-heavy shops because I don't enjoy it, but I don't try to change them to suit me because it would not be in the company's best interests and I am mature enough to understand that. (If asked, because I've been hit up by decision-makers in Microsoft shops before, I'll explain my position, but that's always from the outside.) I feel you when you say that your circumstances preclude finding a better fit, but that doesn't mean that introducing additional risk is the right thing for the employer who pays you to work effectively on their behalf.
Changing established shops is at best difficult and comes with little payoff unless you own the damn thing, and should be done with the best interests of the org in mind--that's what they're paying you for. If you can't get what you feel like you need and what you want doesn't outweigh the opportunity costs, you should leave, because it's better for all involved.
(A grand a year really is nothing, though. Software developers have broken their brains when it comes to cost structures. That's in the ballpark for the amortized cost of a cubicle, which can realize way less value for the company than the right piece of software. Or, you know--the Windows Server CALs that are the actual cost of WCF.)
From what you're saying, and I'm not saying this to rip on you: I doubt one exists, and it doesn't sound, from your description, like making one would be an ethical maneuver anyway. I don't work in Microsoft-heavy shops because I don't enjoy it, but I don't try to change them to suit me because it would not be in the company's best interests and I am mature enough to understand that. (If asked, because I've been hit up by decision-makers in Microsoft shops before, I'll explain my position, but that's always from the outside.) I feel you when you say that your circumstances preclude finding a better fit, but that doesn't mean that introducing additional risk is the right thing for the employer who pays you to work effectively on their behalf.
Changing established shops is at best difficult and comes with little payoff unless you own the damn thing, and should be done with the best interests of the org in mind--that's what they're paying you for. If you can't get what you feel like you need and what you want doesn't outweigh the opportunity costs, you should leave, because it's better for all involved.
(A grand a year really is nothing, though. Software developers have broken their brains when it comes to cost structures. That's in the ballpark for the amortized cost of a cubicle, which can realize way less value for the company than the right piece of software. Or, you know--the Windows Server CALs that are the actual cost of WCF.)