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Comment by return0 | Hacker News Reader

> engineering isn’t just for engineers.

Yes it is.

Yes it is. There is value in learning to build things without being an engineer, but you should know the limits of your skill so you don't cause others harm.

| you should know the limits of your skill so you don't cause others harm

Which is funny how the 'hacker' mentality is to build things fast and cheap. Along with Zuckerberg's "Most fast and break things" mantra.

Moved fast and broke the quotation.

Which quotation? [1]

[1] http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE0LzA0LzMwL2ZjL1p1Y2tlc...

Could be. The question is: Do you want to drive every day to work over the bridge that was not build by engineers.

I disagree with your metaphor. If the bridge you're on collapses, you could be seriously injured. If the CRM you're working in crashes, you're moderately inconvenienced until it comes back up.

Your app constantly crashes, your customers are pissed and leave. You have to close the company. You suffer from depression and kill yourself.

You could find loopholes in any analogy. That's what they are - analogies. Perhaps a different one could capture what I wanted to say.

Everybody can sing, but not everybody can listen it.

That escalated quickly.

Or your CRM crashes and loses some of your business contacts. Or it doesn't crash and just silently corrupts the data your business depends on over time and no-one spots the problem until it's too late.

Or maybe the software you use leaks your secrets to others and you are unwillingly outed as transgender/gay/in-disagreement-with-the-state/etc...

In this digital age, bad software can do irreparable harm to people. We need to keep this in mind and hold ourselves to a higher standard.

I think those are all still at least marginally better than having the bridge you're on collapse, but on the other hand they can wind up affecting many more people than can fit on a single bridge...

There is comparable "life at risk" software. Hospital electronic records and devices, the software controlling your car, airplane autopilots, etc.

The people at Knight Capital would disagree with your statement [1][2].

[1] http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/08/02/knight-capital-says-t...

[2] http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/09/technology/knight-expensive-...

Until this CRM is in a hospital and you 're the patient in the intensive care unit.

agreed.

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