I challenge you to take those people who make bridges to build full software.
I am not meaning software is engineering or not.
It is a fact, in terms of cost, that software and bridge building are, most of the time very different activities with very different goals and cost-benefit ratios.
All those things count when taking decisions about the level of standardization.
About standards... there are lots also and widely used, from networking to protocols, data transfer formats... with well-known strengths and limitations.
I am not meaning software is engineering or not.
It is a fact, in terms of cost, that software and bridge building are, most of the time very different activities with very different goals and cost-benefit ratios.
All those things count when taking decisions about the level of standardization.
About standards... there are lots also and widely used, from networking to protocols, data transfer formats... with well-known strengths and limitations.