Not about the article specifically, but as far as the XKCD comic goes, I'm not sure it necessarily tells people what they think it does. The electronic voting s

Not about the article specifically, but as far as the XKCD comic goes, I'm not sure it necessarily tells people what they think it does. The electronic voting system concept is arguably the only concept software engineers would universally say is a bad idea/worry about. And that's more because of the practicalities involved in that particular idea rather than something about software enginering as a whole. What's necessary for a secure and trustworthy voting system puts it at odds with any attempt to provide such via a machine/app/program/website. Ask the same people about say, reliable hashing/encryption libraries or what not, and their attitudes would probably mirror those of the aircraft designer or building engineer. There are probably also examples of things in aircraft design or construction that would have people in those fields freak out too.