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I work on software that has a lifetime once installed of about 30 years, and if a safety critical error is found during that time, ideally it needs to fixed wit

I work on software that has a lifetime once installed of about 30 years, and if a safety critical error is found during that time, ideally it needs to fixed with a minimal patch, so we have to maintain the capability to do so. I guess the ethos is quite different to top tech company. We don't get the pay or perks that you would get in Silicon Valley, but we are unionised, and it's a viable option to spend your entire career just on one project so it's very stable. Partly it depends on documentation, but also on thinking long term. There are certain people who are the technical authority for a particular area, and they know that about 5 years before they retire or move on they need to find someone who can take on their role for at least the next decade, to keep their knowledge rolling forward.

tra3 3y ago
That's fascinating. Is it possible for you to share more details? Industry? Tech stack? If your project started 30 years ago, that means DOS, or Network or maybe one of the IBM behemoths? Then the maintenance includes pacing OS updates and dependency changes?
- HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
  Not OP, but I work on medical devices. One product at my last job had an expected service life of 20 years. FDA requires that the manufacturer maintain the ability to support and service a medical device for, IIRC, 5 years after market exit. In the 10 years after release that I was on that project, we went through multiple OS upgrades from Windows NT to XP Embedded, to Windows Embedded Industry (replacement for XP Embedded) and a number of replacement x86 CPU boards had to be qualified as one manufacturer after another exited the market. Since the device is validated as a complete system, we often had to buy a year or two stockpile of existing product to give us time to start the Validation process for replacement hardware. You usually have plenty of warning from a supplier that a product (Windows or a CPU board) is going EOL at a certain point, so you need to start validating whatever the next replacement will be well ahead of time.

tra3 3y ago

That's fascinating. Is it possible for you to share more details? Industry? Tech stack? If your project started 30 years ago, that means DOS, or Network or maybe one of the IBM behemoths? Then the maintenance includes pacing OS updates and dependency changes?

HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
Not OP, but I work on medical devices. One product at my last job had an expected service life of 20 years. FDA requires that the manufacturer maintain the ability to support and service a medical device for, IIRC, 5 years after market exit. In the 10 years after release that I was on that project, we went through multiple OS upgrades from Windows NT to XP Embedded, to Windows Embedded Industry (replacement for XP Embedded) and a number of replacement x86 CPU boards had to be qualified as one manufacturer after another exited the market. Since the device is validated as a complete system, we often had to buy a year or two stockpile of existing product to give us time to start the Validation process for replacement hardware. You usually have plenty of warning from a supplier that a product (Windows or a CPU board) is going EOL at a certain point, so you need to start validating whatever the next replacement will be well ahead of time.