this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2023
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Engineers, raise your hand if you've tried to do good work despite your management's 'support.' Oh, look at all the hands going up!
This is true, but when safety is on the line it actually goes further than that. As an engineer you have an ethical duty to say no to making a product unsafe for end users or the general public.
It doesn’t matter if you get fired, if your boss goes to the media to bitch about you, if your boss threatens to sue you, you as an engineer hold a position of public trust to keep the people that use your product safe. If you don’t respect that and take it seriously, well we see where oceangate ended up.
The number of times I've rejected something because of security flaws (usually database injection), only to see other engineers later approve and merge the pull request is infuriating. There seems to always be an engineer who is willing to make an unsafe product.
Yep, it's a damn shame, but we're gonna let them do that because we don't want to be responsible for deaths or security flaws and ultimately there's organizations and people out there who value that if our current jobs don't
Yeah my boss has been going back and forth with me on this for months. Wanting to release unsecured products to the general public. I’m getting exhausted with him. I hold the keys and frequently I’ve told him no, and threatened to quit. Each time they just retreat back and hold a meeting how it will “stay on dev for now”. The features aren’t even feasible to release in the near future but I know they will force the issue. My resignation letter is on the table.
I’ve been there, my boss once interrupted me to ask me to turn our product into a quadcopter
This is the most management-ass "feature" request
“Sir, with all due respect, I don’t believe turning a commercial diesel filling station into a quad copter doesn’t seem feasible.”
It tracks with the zoomers. Make it happen.
You just need to think outside the box. like these lads did: https://youtu.be/ReAa2WFm8Vc?t=16
That value is instilled in many types of engineering, but not as much in software engineering.
Ocean gate hasn’t faced any consequences yet
And neither have FAANG companies for the massive social consequences to ubiquitous surveillance
This moral high ground you think you’re standing on doesn’t exist, and won’t until engineers who push back get the support from society to do so. They currently are very much expected to stand up to a corporation on their own, risking their own livelihood, and that’s plain bullshit
Tale as old as time.
Engineers: "This is possible but we will need to equip every car with an expensive sensor suite"
Management: "So you're saying we can just remove the sensors and figure it out with your engineering magic, you guys are really good at that, you got my iPhone connected to ICloud so you must be reeeally good with technology."
Engineers: "..."
Management: "Also, anyone not up to this task is fired."
Also, we are shipping it next week.
Also, we shipped yesterday.
Boss: Eating a snickers "Oh, you guys weren't finished with that?"
After the meeting a few of the smart ones asked for clarification over email to get it writing.
Management ALWAYS knows what's best! Obviously!
Hence why they constantly come running for us to fix it when shit goes as we say it will.