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> But the government, in an effort to make sure there was absolutely no risk, mistakes, or accountability associated with software development, started adding

by mtts 13y ago

> But the government, in an effort to make sure there was absolutely no risk, mistakes, or accountability associated with software development, started adding more and more mandatory forms that had to be completed each time a developer checked something back in. That's because "the government" is operating under different pressures than corporations. A corporation, big or small, screws up, only a handful of stakeholders are affected and raise a stink. If the government screws up, you're looking at headlines in the Washington Post. Plausible deniability is a powerful force.

Jtsummers 13y ago
A nit: This isn't plausible deniability, but rather CYA (cover your ass). Plausible Deniability: Delegation of tasks and lack of records of communications letting the actual responsible party deny knowledge of the "insubordinate" or "rogue" underlings. CYA: A process to change the process to define the process for tracking changes to the process, with 20 signatures or more required at each step of the process, digital forms filled out in triplicate. Or, making proper recordings of communications with underlings so when they screw up you can point out that they didn't act according to your direction, and that they failed to report issues back up the chain.
gwright 13y ago
Yet another reason why nationalization of government functions is a bad idea. Much easier to move to a new state than to a new country and there are very few things beyond national defense that can't be handled by a state or local government (public works, education, health insurance/care, first responders, disaster response, etc.). That isn't to say that state governments can't screw things up also but at least the damage is contained and state and local governments generally respond better to their constituents complaints/needs than the federal government.

by mtts 13y ago

Jtsummers 13y ago

A nit: This isn't plausible deniability, but rather CYA (cover your ass). Plausible Deniability: Delegation of tasks and lack of records of communications letting the actual responsible party deny knowledge of the "insubordinate" or "rogue" underlings. CYA: A process to change the process to define the process for tracking changes to the process, with 20 signatures or more required at each step of the process, digital forms filled out in triplicate. Or, making proper recordings of communications with underlings so when they screw up you can point out that they didn't act according to your direction, and that they failed to report issues back up the chain.

gwright 13y ago

Yet another reason why nationalization of government functions is a bad idea. Much easier to move to a new state than to a new country and there are very few things beyond national defense that can't be handled by a state or local government (public works, education, health insurance/care, first responders, disaster response, etc.). That isn't to say that state governments can't screw things up also but at least the damage is contained and state and local governments generally respond better to their constituents complaints/needs than the federal government.