4 ms·

> There's this whole scene of people who do performative, almost theatrical, quality programming but nigh on forgot how to actually ship features, and questions

> There's this whole scene of people who do performative, almost theatrical, quality programming but nigh on forgot how to actually ship features, and questions like those are a hint they might be in that camp. Sorry, but I think you're probably wrong as well. Do you actually sell features? As in: Is your revenue directly tied to the number of shipped features per year? If so, who pays for the perpetual maintenance? Did it ever occur to you that every feature is a liability? Security issues, bugs, incompatibilities and odd side-effects with other features, legal changes all add cost per feature. If you're (like many in the industry) piling features on top of each other because you currently have no idea what your finished product should look like and you're hoping that your feature pile will someday somehow turn into a profitable product, I think you're wrong. And even if it does, you'd better exit shortly after because mid-term maintenance will be a proper nightmare.

skrebbel 4y ago
You're making a whole lot of assumptions there buddy.
unoti 4y ago
> Do you actually sell features? As in: Is your revenue directly tied to the number of shipped features per year? If so, who pays for the perpetual maintenance? I have worked for years in different places where the answer is yes, we sell features. This happens any time you are in a competitive deal where customers want software that does certain things and solicit bids from software providers. Your software does some things out of the box and you need to customize or extend it to do other features the customer wants that the system does not yet currently do. You demo what you have, describe how you would do the rest, and do a bid for total cost to the customer. Your competitors do the same. Maintenance can work different ways. But yes, people pay money for features. And when properly managed, it is possible to make features add up to a product that provides value and earns money.

skrebbel 4y ago

You're making a whole lot of assumptions there buddy.

unoti 4y ago

> Do you actually sell features? As in: Is your revenue directly tied to the number of shipped features per year? If so, who pays for the perpetual maintenance? I have worked for years in different places where the answer is yes, we sell features. This happens any time you are in a competitive deal where customers want software that does certain things and solicit bids from software providers. Your software does some things out of the box and you need to customize or extend it to do other features the customer wants that the system does not yet currently do. You demo what you have, describe how you would do the rest, and do a bid for total cost to the customer. Your competitors do the same. Maintenance can work different ways. But yes, people pay money for features. And when properly managed, it is possible to make features add up to a product that provides value and earns money.