Comment by zdw

Comment by zdw 7 hours ago

7 replies

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I don't disagree with anything you say here - using a tool that lacks guardrails is fine for a lot of tasks, but if that's the only tool and used where those guardrails go from "nice to haves" to something more critical is where the problem is.

I've been in ops for a long time and have encountered far too many "our IP addressing plan is just a spreadsheet with manual reconciliation".

I truly wonder if Excel and all it's predecessors and direct clones (Google Sheets, etc.) are holding back industry from making something truly better and more reliable.

rglullis 6 hours ago

> holding back industry from making something truly better and more reliable.

What "industry"?

If you are talking about the software industry, then I'd say you are creating a circular reasoning. If you are talking about all the other things that we actually need to do and which only incidentally have become too reliant on software to do it, then see back my original point: people don't need "better and more reliable" software to keep running their businesses.

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  • lmm 5 hours ago

    If running your business to '90s standards is acceptable, sure, you can use AI to automate your manual processes with the same error rate and keep doing the same thing indefinitely.

    But if the competitors have real software engineers and have used them to actually improve reliability, you'll be left behind.

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    • rglullis 4 hours ago

      What software engineers are being hired to work on:

          - A facilities management company
    - A bar/restaurant with a staff of 8
    - An Architecture office
    - A Law Firm with 10 associates
    - A day care
    - A car repair shop
    - A cement factory 
    - A family-owned hotel 
    - A conference/event organizer
    - A video production crew
    - A roofing company
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      • lmm 4 hours ago

        Ok, but if your competitors are getting/using software from a supplier who has real software engineers, and using that to operate at a higher level of reliability, then the same argument goes through.

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