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>I can’t predict all of the issues that our partners will throw at me, and I know that to fix them I have to understand multiple systems, work with great collea

>I can’t predict all of the issues that our partners will throw at me, and I know that to fix them I have to understand multiple systems, work with great colleagues, and constantly push myself to learn more. So what is his domain exactly? He went from shipping other platforms/devices to his first Android device. So presumably, he is learning multiple operating systems? Is that practical to have working knowledge of multiple OS internals? Wouldn't they be better served by people specializing in one OS/platform? That would lead to quicker issue resolutions as someone isn't spending time learning a new OS. (These aren't criticisms of anyone's ability, but rather why the scope of responsibility is so large and requires so much mental effort)

nitrogen 6y ago
Some engineers will be bored to tears with a scope of responsibility that is any narrower. The foundational skill for an engineer who supports partners is likely one's ability to absorb, navigate, and understand new systems quickly. Knowing more than one OS (or language, or CPU, etc) actually improves this skill. There are some fundamental ideas that are common across OSes that could help reduce mental burden, though the details differ significantly. And there are some activities that almost require one person to know multiple OSes internals, such as reverse engineering Windows drivers to write Linux drivers.