Boeing's 737 Max Software Outsourced to $9-an-Hour Engineers
finance.yahoo.com
Boeing's 737 Max Software Outsourced to $9-an-Hour Engineers
1–10 of 31 posts
Re: Boeing's 737 Max Software Outsourced to $9-an-Hour Engineers
#2You know the old saying: I would never fly in a plane designed with software using floating point.
I think it needs an updating: I would never fly in a plane with software written by $9/hour coders.
Re: Boeing's 737 Max Software Outsourced to $9-an-Hour Engineers
#3The real kicker is that the software worked exactly as intended.
It wasn't the programmers' fault that the planes went down. It was the specs they were given that were bad.
Re: Boeing's 737 Max Software Outsourced to $9-an-Hour Engineers
#4You know the old saying: I would never fly in a plane designed with software using floating point. I think it needs an updating: I would never fly in a plane with software written by $9/hour coders.
Is that a saying? Lots of critical systems use floating point numbers.
Re: Boeing's 737 Max Software Outsourced to $9-an-Hour Engineers
#5The real kicker is that the software worked exactly as intended. It wasn't the programmers' fault that the planes went down. It was the specs they were given that were bad.
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Re: Boeing's 737 Max Software Outsourced to $9-an-Hour Engineers
#6The real kicker is that the software worked exactly as intended. It wasn't the programmers' fault that the planes went down. It was the specs they were given that were bad.
That's why you want devs who actually care about the business. Often a tough sell for management who do not expect feedback/collaboration from development; and that's also a skill that devs actually have to practice to get good at, else if you just ask them they give self-interested answers (cutting features etc..)
Re: Boeing's 737 Max Software Outsourced to $9-an-Hour Engineers
#7"Rabin, the former software engineer, recalled one manager saying at an all-hands meeting that Boeing didn’t need senior engineers because its products were mature."
Doesn't exactly make me confident in flying in their planes...
Re: Boeing's 737 Max Software Outsourced to $9-an-Hour Engineers
#8People in the industry would instantly recognize that there are many layers to a big system and some are less critical than others. There is no proof here that the contractor touched any critical flight system software.
But this is written for a general audience who are unable to tell the difference. The piece rides on the narrative that Boeing was careless, which may be true overall wrt 737MAX, but not necessarily in the aspect the article is premised on. Hence, clickbait.
Re: Boeing's 737 Max Software Outsourced to $9-an-Hour Engineers
#9I remember reading an article about the MAX fiasco that stated something about how all software engineers working in aeronautics could be assumed to be senior and extremely capable. I wondered how they could be so sure, with companies like IBM kicking out seniors (in both senses of the term) to lower costs, the rise of “code schools,” and the lure of outsourcing. Not surprised to read this at all.
At least in other industries cost-cutting just kills the business instead of killing actual human beings.
Re: Boeing's 737 Max Software Outsourced to $9-an-Hour Engineers
#10The real kicker is that the software worked exactly as intended. It wasn't the programmers' fault that the planes went down. It was the specs they were given that were bad.
Anyone that has ever worked with outsourced developers knows the truth of this.
If you give them a spec or requirements, they will do exactly what that thing says. Even including the typos or grammatical errors.
I don’t blame them. They have no incentive to care beyond this type of business transaction.
But applying this model to anything other than vaporware is terrifying.