[zevets]

I would prefer software infrastructure be developed rigorously as well, as I think would most people. But that will lead to regulations or at best, expensive insurance company mandated standards.

But before we celebrate its demise: the side effect will also be the same ones seen in the civil engineering world: creative ideas take decades to come into existence. As you mentioned in your other comment, there was a time when railroad building was exciting, and in that time, people died doing exciting engineering. Civil engineering tools are now orders of magnitude better than they were years ago, but there hasn't been an explosion in creative structures, even at the lowest level. I also think many of the perks (ie: salary) of the software engineering industry are intimately related to the 'move fast and break things' culture. When that leaves the industry, it may be less of a good riddance than you think.

This may be my perspective as an outsider though, I don't work in software. But I have considered making the jump to software engineering, because 'moving fast and break things' sounds fun.

Fundamentally we agree, but I'm a pessimist.

[rm_-rf_slash]

Also agreed, but I don't think the "boringification" of civil engineering is all that bad either. I met a civil engineer recently. He is a mundane but serious professional. He has no patience for the shiny objects that the real estate developers try to distract other people with. Codes are upheld and enforced.

It's easy to grumble about regulations until their reasons are forgotten. Then they get repealed and the problems come back. The mortgage crisis is a prime example.

I don't think this is such a bad future for software either. Much of my job writing software for higher education involves adhering to complex policies. These policies are necessary to remain FERPA/HIPAA compliant, which are necessary for their own reasons. Playing fast and loose is taking out a debt for an uncertain future.

[dispose13432]

The "boringification" of computers will bring us back to the 70s.

If we have to prove _everything_ on your computer, from your calculator or Pokemon, how much do you think a license of windows will cost? $250,000?

Linux/FreeBSD/OpenBSD/Minix will be dead (no one to sponsor certification and then put it in the public).

Crazy "best-practices" (change passwords every couple days, password must include symbols, letters, numbers, upper-case and lower-case in a random order, but be no shorter or longer than eight characters)

Must have a full team of lawyers to prove that everything done fit the letter of the law, and that any hacks are not your responsibility

"Shinyness" is what allows you to have free VSCode and Atom.

Sure, I miss the 70s when you could get a text editor measured in bytes (but, btw, electron is probably more secure than 70s unix) but I definitely like the cost/convenience of modern software.