[brujoand]

If you fuck up I don't really care about an apology. I want to know:

  1. How will you fix it? 
  2. How will you prevent it from happening again?

An apology, in my head atleast, is for when you have caused emotional distress to someone and there isn't much you can physically do to fix it other than to convey how you now feel about what you have done. When you make a practical mistake an apology is implied by you fixing it.

[twic]

There are perhaps two parts to an apology. One is an acknowledgement that you did something wrong, and that you should not have done it. The other is a sort of ritualistic, performative (in the original sense!) use of language that may make someone feel better. This is the difference between:

"I made a mistake when i dereferenced that null pointer"

and:

"I'm sorry i dereferenced that null pointer"

I absolutely agree with you that the ritualistic part is pointless, and perhaps harmful if it is performed instead of actually fixing the problem (see also "thoughts and prayers").

But i wouldn't want to stop doing the acknowledgement part.

[zeroimpl]

I wouldn’t refer to the first stage as an apology, it is simply an acknowledgement.

I very rarely apologize for a bug at work. I don’t expect others to apologize to me either. Apologies should be reserved for personal/relationship things, like forgetting to invite somebody to a meeting.