[vunderba]

I suppose for the vast majority of software engineers working on online / SaaS type products or ones that silo a lot of customer data, this is true.

Always has is a bold assertion. I've worked for companies which produced consumer level software on an annual cycle that was pressed to physical CDs, and there was not even a concept of on-call. Bugs that got reported went from customer support, to QC to corroborate, and finally triaged out to the R&D department where they would be fixed within normal work hours.

This idea of 100% 24/7 on-call to fight fires in an industry where the vast majority of engineers are working for insurance companies, social media, e-commerce, etc. This ain't life and death people, let's get some perspective.

[zvr]

> produced consumer level software on an annual cycle

This can also be generalized "produced software on a release schedule".

I would assume that the vast majority of software engineers are not working on supporting the operation of online/SaaS services, but rather develop products.