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I don't know if I would say it caused them. There are many complex and massive problems that are far more to blame for these suicides. This is like saying WWI a

I don't know if I would say it caused them. There are many complex and massive problems that are far more to blame for these suicides. This is like saying WWI and II were caused by Gavrilo Princip.

jacquesm 7y ago
It would be unfortunate if it turned out that we software people have a responsibility towards those that are affected by our product. /s Yes, there are many complex and massive problems, but whether or not they are 'far more to blame' is an open question, once you are operating in that particular environment you decide to take on the responsibility that goes with it. These structural problems also need taking care of but until then the people who write such software need to be more careful to limit the impact of errors they make. Quote from TFA: "At the heart of the controversy is a private software firm, Globarena Technology, which in 2017 won the government contract to conduct the exam across the state for more than 970,000 students. It is also responsible for processing the final scores to announce results. The state education board, which outsourced the job to Globarena, has said the suicides were not "connected to mistakes due to technical and result processing errors". Globarena conceded there had been errors. "We follow the process prescribed by the board. The incidents that have happened are unfortunate. Initially there were technical errors. We have made the corrections," VSN Raju, the company's CEO, told the BBC in April. " Endquote. In such circumstances it should be a requirement to get stuff like this right, apparently peoples lives depend on it . This is as mission critical as it gets. See also: software is eating the world. That comes with a responsibility.
- praptak 7y ago
  > These structural problems also need taking care of but until then the people who write such software need to be more careful to limit the impact of errors they make. "People who write such software" are probably some developers who either deliver before deadline or get fired. Who knows, maybe they are even the future versions of the students - struggling to support their families. I don't think it's realistic to expect they can shoulder the responsibility for ethics in developing software. Something needs to exert pressure at businesses not to deliver crappy software. Unions? The law? I don't know, but not individual developers.
  - jacquesm 7y ago
    Their managers and everybody higher up are just as culpable if not more so.

I don't know if I would say it caused them. There are many complex and massive problems that are far more to blame for these suicides. This is like saying WWI and II were caused by Gavrilo Princip.

jacquesm 7y ago

It would be unfortunate if it turned out that we software people have a responsibility towards those that are affected by our product. /s Yes, there are many complex and massive problems, but whether or not they are 'far more to blame' is an open question, once you are operating in that particular environment you decide to take on the responsibility that goes with it. These structural problems also need taking care of but until then the people who write such software need to be more careful to limit the impact of errors they make. Quote from TFA: "At the heart of the controversy is a private software firm, Globarena Technology, which in 2017 won the government contract to conduct the exam across the state for more than 970,000 students. It is also responsible for processing the final scores to announce results. The state education board, which outsourced the job to Globarena, has said the suicides were not "connected to mistakes due to technical and result processing errors". Globarena conceded there had been errors. "We follow the process prescribed by the board. The incidents that have happened are unfortunate. Initially there were technical errors. We have made the corrections," VSN Raju, the company's CEO, told the BBC in April. " Endquote. In such circumstances it should be a requirement to get stuff like this right, apparently peoples lives depend on it . This is as mission critical as it gets. See also: software is eating the world. That comes with a responsibility.

praptak 7y ago
> These structural problems also need taking care of but until then the people who write such software need to be more careful to limit the impact of errors they make. "People who write such software" are probably some developers who either deliver before deadline or get fired. Who knows, maybe they are even the future versions of the students - struggling to support their families. I don't think it's realistic to expect they can shoulder the responsibility for ethics in developing software. Something needs to exert pressure at businesses not to deliver crappy software. Unions? The law? I don't know, but not individual developers.
- jacquesm 7y ago
  Their managers and everybody higher up are just as culpable if not more so.