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Plus, like, OK, imagine I'm an engineer. "I don't think customers would like this feature. In fact I think it's against their interests." "We appreciate your

Plus, like, OK, imagine I'm an engineer. "I don't think customers would like this feature. In fact I think it's against their interests." "We appreciate your concern, but we've judged that this feature actually benefits customers, so please implement as specified." Discussion over.

barnabee 4y ago
Quit. “I was just doing my job” stops being an excuse at some point…
- emodendroket 4y ago
  If they were ordering me to do war crimes I suppose I would but I don't think the annoyances in this article are quite at that level and I question the idea that you'll find anywhere that never makes any decisions you don't agree with.
salawat 4y ago
If Software Engineers operated at parity with other Engineering fields, the conversation could be quite different. "I will not sign off on your design as specified. Change the design, or Do Not Operate". Any attempts to implement and operate without sign off will be reported to the authorities, because the Public's Interest, and my continued licensure are more important than your empire building." At this point, I think I'll suffer the burden of licensure to keep unethical groups/impls in check.
- jbay808 4y ago
  In Canada, if you have a P. Eng, you can do that (and, in fact, must). (I don't know how many software developers have P. Engs though. The regulators try to extend the coverage of their regulation to encompass software and tech, but at the same time ignore a lot of tech companies and workers operating without license. They also tend to write rules with an implicit assumption that all engineers are working in big utilities or mining companies, making it very hard for tech workers to jump through those hoops and get licensed.) /rant
- emodendroket 4y ago
  But in point of fact engineers ship artificially limited products all the time. Yeah it's different if we're talking about a bridge that can kill someone but that's not exactly like an online installer, is it?

barnabee 4y ago

Quit. “I was just doing my job” stops being an excuse at some point…

emodendroket 4y ago
If they were ordering me to do war crimes I suppose I would but I don't think the annoyances in this article are quite at that level and I question the idea that you'll find anywhere that never makes any decisions you don't agree with.

salawat 4y ago

If Software Engineers operated at parity with other Engineering fields, the conversation could be quite different. "I will not sign off on your design as specified. Change the design, or Do Not Operate". Any attempts to implement and operate without sign off will be reported to the authorities, because the Public's Interest, and my continued licensure are more important than your empire building." At this point, I think I'll suffer the burden of licensure to keep unethical groups/impls in check.

jbay808 4y ago
In Canada, if you have a P. Eng, you can do that (and, in fact, must). (I don't know how many software developers have P. Engs though. The regulators try to extend the coverage of their regulation to encompass software and tech, but at the same time ignore a lot of tech companies and workers operating without license. They also tend to write rules with an implicit assumption that all engineers are working in big utilities or mining companies, making it very hard for tech workers to jump through those hoops and get licensed.) /rant
emodendroket 4y ago
But in point of fact engineers ship artificially limited products all the time. Yeah it's different if we're talking about a bridge that can kill someone but that's not exactly like an online installer, is it?