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It’s come full circle. I’ve often heard people (working developers) say over the years that software engineers are basically just digital plumbers. And the job
by jb1991 5y ago
It’s come full circle. I’ve often heard people (working developers) say over the years that software engineers are basically just digital plumbers. And the job often feels that way. Now we have proof that the skills do in fact overlap quite a bit with plumbing.
- josefresco 5y agoMy old boss (web development) said in 2003ish that "we're just plumbers" and at the time (I was young) it offended me as I thought as "technologists" we were "special". When I went out on my own, I realized he was right.
- HPsquared 5y agoPlumbers are technologists as well, really. Just a different kind of technology...
- anamax 5y agoPlumbers are essential for civilization. Pretty much everyone else isn't.
- paulryanrogers 5y agoIf I had to pick one essential profession it would be farmers. Even with peak efficiency it's work that must be done to sustain modern population sizes.
- effingwewt 5y agoNo, it's truly plumbing. We could not have any human gatherings close to what we have without plumbing. People could grow their own food, eat straight nutrients if we had to. Without plumbing you have no waste drain and no flowing water. I imagine you forgot about the irrigation aspect of farming. Discovering plumbing, waste disposal and aqueducts[1] allow society to live in close quarters. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_aqueduct https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_aqueduct
- vishnugupta 5y ago> digital plumbers. I had this realization over last one year, after 17 years of professional life. Most of my work these days involves plumbing together right libraries and data pipelines to automate business processes. Sometimes I need to fix an existing plumbing to plug a leak here and there. Now my Twitter handle says Plumber
- darkteflon 5y agoI’ve always liked Joel Spolsky’s “duct-tape programmer”.
- vaughandroid 5y agoIIRC the meaning of that was specifically someone that was willing to bodge things in order to ship - someone that prioritised getting it done over getting it "done right" (whatever that means). I think it's a little different from the "plumber" label. FWIW I like both terms. I just wouldn't use them interchangeably. :)
- tlarkworthy 5y agoThere is subversive power in choosing what to connect
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- biggieshellz 5y agoI mean, we have a Linux Plumbers Conference for a reason. The kernel is digital infrastructure.
- 908B64B197 5y agoI agree with plumbing. But not residential. That's all pretty standardized. Think industrial, or a nuclear power plant. Or a spacecraft. Something where everything had to be custom designed.