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I feel that computers make it easier for this danger to be more indirect, however. The examples you give are physical, and even the youngest of child would like

I feel that computers make it easier for this danger to be more indirect, however. The examples you give are physical, and even the youngest of child would likely recognise they are not regular items. A production database, meanwhile, is visually identical to a test database, if measures are not made to make it distinct. Adults though we may be, we're human, and humans can make really daft mistakes without the right context to avoid them

Waterluvian 6y ago
All of those items have a lot of safety software in them.
PurpleFoxy 6y ago
There are also countless safety measures on physical items that have been iterated on over decades to prevent all kinds of accidents. Things like putting physical locks on switches to prevent machinery being turned on while people are working on it. Can you imagine if instead of a physical lock it just said “are you sure you wish to turn on this machine”. “Of course I want to turn it on, that’s why I pressed the button” Some software makes it a lot harder for the user to mess up now. When deleting a repo on GitLab you have to type the name of the repo before pressing delete and then it puts it in a pending deletion state for a month before it’s actually deleted. Unfortunately for developers we typically get minimal cli tools which will instantly cause a lot of damage without any way to undo.
im3w1l 6y ago
So, silly idea. What if, to work on the production database, you had to go into the special production room, colored in the special production color, scented with the special production perfume, and sit on a just tiny bit uncomfortable production chair. Basically make it clear even to the caveman brain that things are different.
- pontifier 6y ago
  I actually really like this idea... but who am I kidding, it's a luxury I don't have time for when I've got to fix stuff.

Waterluvian 6y ago

All of those items have a lot of safety software in them.

PurpleFoxy 6y ago

There are also countless safety measures on physical items that have been iterated on over decades to prevent all kinds of accidents. Things like putting physical locks on switches to prevent machinery being turned on while people are working on it. Can you imagine if instead of a physical lock it just said “are you sure you wish to turn on this machine”. “Of course I want to turn it on, that’s why I pressed the button” Some software makes it a lot harder for the user to mess up now. When deleting a repo on GitLab you have to type the name of the repo before pressing delete and then it puts it in a pending deletion state for a month before it’s actually deleted. Unfortunately for developers we typically get minimal cli tools which will instantly cause a lot of damage without any way to undo.

im3w1l 6y ago

So, silly idea. What if, to work on the production database, you had to go into the special production room, colored in the special production color, scented with the special production perfume, and sit on a just tiny bit uncomfortable production chair. Basically make it clear even to the caveman brain that things are different.

pontifier 6y ago
I actually really like this idea... but who am I kidding, it's a luxury I don't have time for when I've got to fix stuff.