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> Not sure if that can get employees into trouble in case of a criminal investigation Hopefully they can. We need to make it clear that 'just following orders'

by bjl 9y ago

> Not sure if that can get employees into trouble in case of a criminal investigation Hopefully they can. We need to make it clear that 'just following orders' is no excuse for criminal behaviour.

nugi 9y ago
Absolutely. 'Just following orders' is becoming a common excuse and it sickens me.
- IntronExon 9y ago
  Software need a governing body with professional standards (like the AMA) and it needs it yesterday.
  - eberkund 9y ago
    What does this have to do with software? What about the executives and managers who gave the go-ahead on this?
    - IntronExon 9y ago
      A professional standards body can reign in those excesses from the bottom up, just as it does for so many other fields of endeavor. The top is always going to demand what they can get away with.
      - eberkund 9y ago
        How so? Are you suggesting that the guys at the top are going to suddenly start caring about these things because there is a standards body that their employees belong to which says so? Or are you saying that the employees are going to refuse to do things that contradict code maintained by the standards body? Or are you saying that employers will care that a software developer doesn't belong to a standards body and won't hire those that aren't?
        IntronExon 9y ago
        How so? Are you suggesting that the guys at the top are going to suddenly start caring about these things because there is a standards body that their employees belong to which says so? Or are you saying that the employees are going to refuse to do things that contradict code maintained by the standards body? The second, leading to the first, which then naturally leds to the third. The AMA, APA, and many others operate this way. Very effectively. Journals need to buy in, schools do, and eventually employers and licensing bodies. This is not really a new concept, just new for the increasingly unacceptable Wild West or software. Software is not a frontier anymore, it’s the biggest thing going, in our medical devices, cars, banks, etc. it is time to grow up.

by bjl 9y ago

> Not sure if that can get employees into trouble in case of a criminal investigation Hopefully they can. We need to make it clear that 'just following orders' is no excuse for criminal behaviour.

nugi 9y ago

Absolutely. 'Just following orders' is becoming a common excuse and it sickens me.

IntronExon 9y ago
Software need a governing body with professional standards (like the AMA) and it needs it yesterday.
- eberkund 9y ago
  What does this have to do with software? What about the executives and managers who gave the go-ahead on this?
  - IntronExon 9y ago
    A professional standards body can reign in those excesses from the bottom up, just as it does for so many other fields of endeavor. The top is always going to demand what they can get away with.
    - eberkund 9y ago
      How so? Are you suggesting that the guys at the top are going to suddenly start caring about these things because there is a standards body that their employees belong to which says so? Or are you saying that the employees are going to refuse to do things that contradict code maintained by the standards body? Or are you saying that employers will care that a software developer doesn't belong to a standards body and won't hire those that aren't?
      - IntronExon 9y ago
        How so? Are you suggesting that the guys at the top are going to suddenly start caring about these things because there is a standards body that their employees belong to which says so? Or are you saying that the employees are going to refuse to do things that contradict code maintained by the standards body? The second, leading to the first, which then naturally leds to the third. The AMA, APA, and many others operate this way. Very effectively. Journals need to buy in, schools do, and eventually employers and licensing bodies. This is not really a new concept, just new for the increasingly unacceptable Wild West or software. Software is not a frontier anymore, it’s the biggest thing going, in our medical devices, cars, banks, etc. it is time to grow up.