> I get a horrible feeling in my stomach when I see these "remote" IDE options.
Same here. For me, it is the understanding that every bit of this 'convenience' is adding overhead and latency to what should ultimately just be a text editor with some degree of real-time feedback. I can barely tolerate RDP on a local LAN setup for writing code. Across the internet is a joke, especially if some corporate VPN is in the middle.
Remote tools are totally acceptable when a human isn't in the loop on every frame update. The laws of physics are never going to give us a win-win here. If you want remote tooling + cake (i.e., a low-latency UI experience that doesn't live local), you will need to start deploying this stuff closer to the users' physical locations.
But here I have to ask what your experience with such remote setups is? I used the remote features of Visual Studio Code a while back because I needed a beefy machine that was integrated into a specific remote service landscape. I have to say I couldn't really notice that it was running remotely. But that probably depends on your company and how weird their network setup is.
You mentioned RDP which I wouldn't even start comparing to a setup like this. Obviously streaming individual frames, video and the likes over the network is a different beast than having an editor running on a remote machine and only stream commands and keystrokes. For example my ssh sessions don't usually involve a lot of lag and work just fine.
> I have to say I couldn't really notice that it was running remotely.
Perhaps this is like how some people swear on their life they cant see the difference between a 60hz and 120hz display. I know individuals who absolutely love all the touch screen controls and fly-by-wire features in their cars.
There is definitely some subjectivity to this. Especially, if the notion of building remote workspaces is cool to you. This would make the little annoyances much easier to ignore.
Some of us are sent right off the deep end by the most trivial of matters. I find myself in this camp. If I consciously detect the network round trip, I am going to immediately fall out of flow and start fucking with settings and checking network conditions. This is a huge liability for me when I already struggle to find focus to write code during the day.
Same here. For me, it is the understanding that every bit of this 'convenience' is adding overhead and latency to what should ultimately just be a text editor with some degree of real-time feedback. I can barely tolerate RDP on a local LAN setup for writing code. Across the internet is a joke, especially if some corporate VPN is in the middle.
Remote tools are totally acceptable when a human isn't in the loop on every frame update. The laws of physics are never going to give us a win-win here. If you want remote tooling + cake (i.e., a low-latency UI experience that doesn't live local), you will need to start deploying this stuff closer to the users' physical locations.