Oh, I absolutely agree with this. But I think many companies have a hard time with this.
The issue being that, of course, this exploration may end up badly. See all the supply chain issues which have made it to the HN front page. So some guardrails should absolutely be in place.
I don't know how practical that would be, but I keep thinking we (IT people and adjacent) should possibly have two computers. An "untrusted" one, on which we'd be free to tinker, test new things, etc. No issue with nuking it if anything goes wrong. No access to "important" data or networks. And another, "trusted" one, from which you'd do your admin work, deploy to prod, etc.
I would love to see the two computer approach be more widespread. I think "one computer per desk" is a major mental hangup. Computers cost a fraction of what they used to compared to salaries and we still insist on a 1:1 ratio.
The issue being that, of course, this exploration may end up badly. See all the supply chain issues which have made it to the HN front page. So some guardrails should absolutely be in place.
I don't know how practical that would be, but I keep thinking we (IT people and adjacent) should possibly have two computers. An "untrusted" one, on which we'd be free to tinker, test new things, etc. No issue with nuking it if anything goes wrong. No access to "important" data or networks. And another, "trusted" one, from which you'd do your admin work, deploy to prod, etc.