teleworking tools and methodologies (was Re: Teleowrking [Was: Anyone looking to hire a Python/C++ developer?])

[Gordon McMillan]

Alex Martelli wrote:

[teleworking]
 
> I think the theme is very interesting, particularly the sub-theme
> of what methodologies and technologies work, and how well, in
> various teleworking situations.

I've been doing it for 6 years. In my experience the key factor is simply 
how responsive people are to email. CVS is also a necessity (well, one 
client used ClearCase - I worked out some scripts so I could keep my CVS in 
synch with their ClearCase).
 
I live in rural Maine. No cable, no DSL (coming "soon" <snort>), ISDN would 
cost me $400/month + long distance charges for each instant online. I've 
used VNC through a tunnel - man oh man, is that painful. Each mouse movement 
/ click or keypress means a 2 to 10 second wait (I blame more than half of 
that on the pitiful box my client used for the tunnel). And don't run a DOS 
box on a remote Windows machine - the "just what changed" logic doesn't 
work, so the simple existence of the DOS box will saturate your connection.

But I'm an independent developer, not an employee, so I get a little more 
leeway.

[And like the guy who started this thread, I'm looking for new work, too.]

-- Gordon
http://www.mcmillan-inc.com/