
Anti-patterns and Malpractices in Modern Software Development (2015) - rbanffy
https://medium.com/@bryanedds/living-in-the-age-of-software-fuckery-8859f81ca877#.ukrojlabp
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erikb
One of the big topics and reasons given is the "problem of the commons". A
ressource that is available to many will lead to the community's downfall
since everybody takes as much as he can instead of as much as he needs, which
leads to exploiting the ressource to its limits and beyond.

I would argue that the world is not THAT pessimistic. The thing is that most
people are totally fine with "just a little more" than what they need. They
don't want the max, they want a little more than the min. Only a few people
will try to exploit the commons to their max.

But then why is it that the "problem of the commons" seems so reasonable? Why
do we experience this self destructive path so often if only a few will over-
exploit it?

I believe this is the case because A) the few over-exploiters will also fight
each other which leads to (self-)destructive results, and B) stopping over-
exploiters requires open communication (=everybody would need to admit his
little exploits) and cooperation (=trusting each other).

As a result I believe that forcing open information and forcing cooperation by
rules (e.g. by separation of power, by having some people getting paid to
reveal the exploits of others) would save the whole system from over-
exploiters and I believe there are areas were we already achieved that to a
meaningful degrees (e.g. in democracies in comparison to dictatorships).

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heisenbit
Summary: The short term thinking, management, architects and co-workers etc.
are all to blame. How to fix it: Tell the truth. Guy is self proclaimed semi
retired since 30.

It is true that software creation is messed up from all angles and the result
is rarely clean. None of that is new. Yes, the software from the good old days
was written better (not really, see all the security issues and don't forget
that there is a huge survivor bias).

Iff software actually ships it has filled a need at a sufficient quality,
adhered to budget, time and integration constraints. Software is usually a
team effort due to the sheer size of work and knowledge required. Working with
people can be challenging - either in a good or in a bad way. The latter is
result of two people not getting along well. Considering that everyone else is
the problem I wonder about the author.

None of the "problems" is truly fixable. Faced with each one there are things
one can do and being content with that rather than trying to come up with some
silver bullets.

Scratch that. May I share with you my holacratic software process?

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ubersoldat2k7
Pfft... I wonder if he would feel better doing real engineering on a 50°C
desert building football stadiums.

Personally, I don't care about all of this, the project is done, I get paid
and the wheel keeps on turning.

Talking about "real engineering" and not to discredit fellow engineers, most
of their job is done by already manufactured formulas and software
simulations. All those bridges, stadiums and buildings, started as bits and
bytes.

The real difference is those projects are signed and you're liable if they
collapse. There are no EULAs for bridges... Yet!

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merricksb
Previously:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12778824](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12778824)

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sheeshkebab
An article with bunch of barely coherent notes about software "engineering"
not being engineering... Ok, welcome to the industry.

