It is unfortunate that parent latched on to capitalism. Point number 13 from the post resonated with me the most since the software I write can damage the environment or expensive machines that are difficult to replace if there are errors, and as a professional electrical engineer I do sign off that it is built correctly and am liable, and therefore I limit the scope so I can manage the workload, document test results that show it works correctly, and put a lot of effort in to handling faults so machinery shuts down safely when there is a problem with a sensor or actuator. Also I keep it as simple as it can be to get the job done so it is readable for other people to understand and troubleshoot.
Imagine if you could sue software vendors for lost revenue due to bugs.
The posts point about people taking responsibility for their software not happening until there are regulations and regulations being written in blood is a good one.
>"Imagine if you could sue software vendors for lost revenue due to bugs"
It does happen when software is made under specific contract. You do pay an exorbitant price for such software though.
For generic software - this is the dumbest idea I've ever heard. Go sue your politicians instead. I am pretty sure you'd find enough cases of lost revenue / income coming as the results of their actions.
Why should software be unlike other industries that are held accountable for their products? Imagine everything in your life had no warranty and click through eula type terms and changed uncontrollably to improve some metric for the manufacturer.
I suppose it all comes down to when life and environment are on the line instead of just revenue, and for revenue as you say the people who can afford it pay for it and enforce it with their contracts. To me therein lies the difference between programming and software engineering.
True, but I'd argue that regulation is not part of the free market capitalist paradigm. Regulations are created and enforced by the democratic institutions that are not part of the market paradigm.
Imagine if you could sue software vendors for lost revenue due to bugs.
The posts point about people taking responsibility for their software not happening until there are regulations and regulations being written in blood is a good one.