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Stuff like this shows that licensing for certain software development activities is long overdue. Could you imagine if software engineering was like real engin

Stuff like this shows that licensing for certain software development activities is long overdue. Could you imagine if software engineering was like real engineering, with you having to sign off on work done and accepting personal liability, including fines and jail time for negligence? So much of software development as it is practiced today simply wouldn't be tolerated in such a world.

Clubber 3y ago
Perhaps a 3rd party, unaffiliated QA requirement or something would help.
donmcronald 3y ago
Yeah, the software was broken, but the real harm was caused by people much further up the chain of command when they refused to admit the software was broken, even after they were explicitly told so by a contractor they hired. > with you having to sign off on work done and accepting personal liability I think that makes it even easier for those at the top who are willing to lie and cheat because it becomes easy to use the lowly developers as scapegoats. I think the only way you stop stuff like this scandal is to prosecute every c-suite executive that knew about the problem and helped cover it up instead of blowing the whistle on it. Claw back their wealth and send them to jail.
blibble 3y ago
> Could you imagine if software engineering was like real engineering, with you having to sign off on work done and accepting personal liability, including fines and jail time for negligence? some sections of the industry have this (notably finance)
SilverBirch 3y ago
I think you've taken the complete wrong lesson from this. The problem wasn't the software - the software had bugs, all software does. The problem was that people in the Post Office and Fujitsu asserted there were no bugs, no bugs could happen and made all sorts of statements that weren't even plausible and those that went against them got prosecuted and destroyed. Not because the software didn't work but because the people in charge covered up the software not working rather than dealing with the fallout. These exact shortfall issues could've happened and with an open and honest process of investigating the problems they could have been sorted decades ago. It wasn't the software that was the problem, it was the systematic cover up that was the problem.
- ndsipa_pomu 3y ago
  I can't understand how no-one has been prosecuted for perjury or perverting the course of justice for declaring the infallibility of the software in a criminal trial.

Clubber 3y ago

Perhaps a 3rd party, unaffiliated QA requirement or something would help.

donmcronald 3y ago

Yeah, the software was broken, but the real harm was caused by people much further up the chain of command when they refused to admit the software was broken, even after they were explicitly told so by a contractor they hired. > with you having to sign off on work done and accepting personal liability I think that makes it even easier for those at the top who are willing to lie and cheat because it becomes easy to use the lowly developers as scapegoats. I think the only way you stop stuff like this scandal is to prosecute every c-suite executive that knew about the problem and helped cover it up instead of blowing the whistle on it. Claw back their wealth and send them to jail.

blibble 3y ago

> Could you imagine if software engineering was like real engineering, with you having to sign off on work done and accepting personal liability, including fines and jail time for negligence? some sections of the industry have this (notably finance)

SilverBirch 3y ago

I think you've taken the complete wrong lesson from this. The problem wasn't the software - the software had bugs, all software does. The problem was that people in the Post Office and Fujitsu asserted there were no bugs, no bugs could happen and made all sorts of statements that weren't even plausible and those that went against them got prosecuted and destroyed. Not because the software didn't work but because the people in charge covered up the software not working rather than dealing with the fallout. These exact shortfall issues could've happened and with an open and honest process of investigating the problems they could have been sorted decades ago. It wasn't the software that was the problem, it was the systematic cover up that was the problem.

ndsipa_pomu 3y ago
I can't understand how no-one has been prosecuted for perjury or perverting the course of justice for declaring the infallibility of the software in a criminal trial.