[palmotea]

> So much of Management (both mid and executive) still considers Software as if it were an assembly line; "We make software just like how Ford makes cars". Code as a product.

Which, it should be noted, is the dumbest idea ever. The Ford assembly line makes more-or-less identical copies of the same design. How do you do that with software? The cp command.

If someone thinks like that, they probably read some business book and either didn't understand the book, don't understand their own business, or is following some guru who has one of those problems.

[Henchman21]

> If someone thinks like that

So like 95% of business school graduates?

[DoctorOetker]

Precisely, cars are more-or-less identical copies, at each position along the assembly line its just one of a handful of variants of the step that needs to be executed.

Software is less like an assembly line and more like plumbing:

Some people design which type of pipe needs to be routed from here to there.

The implementor actually pipes the outputs of one function, in a variable, and then taps it off as an argument to another function.

Software development is like plumbing really, so a good manager of a pipeworks and plumbing company might actually make a good manager for software companies as well.

This is also why its actually not so surprising that LLM's are mastering programming skills, it's essentially just being a plumber, and a lot of people are happy they no longer need to be a plumber. Physicists, engineers, scientists, ... they have much more complicated tasks compared to plumbers, programmers and code monkeys.

[AlotOfReading]

An assembly line is plumbing too. And just like software, while there are a finite number of variants at any specific time, the plumbing is constantly being rearranged for various reasons. A line won't look the same in 6 months as it does today.

    Physicists, engineers, scientists, ... they have much more complicated tasks compared to plumbers, programmers and code monkeys.

I've sat next to the industrial engineers designing the lines and MechEs working in CAD. My software job wasn't all that different at a high level. We all wrote requirements, made bugfixes, and complained about the tier 1s. They usually spent more time visiting the lines in Asia/Mexico/Michigan/Canada. I just emailed the factory when I needed to fix something.

[palmotea]

> Software development is like plumbing really, so a good manager of a pipeworks and plumbing company might actually make a good manager for software companies as well.

No, wrong again. Some software development tasks are like plumbing, but that misses a lot. Your claim in sort of like saying since the Wendelstein_7-X has wiring, the manager an electrical contractor would be good to lead that project.

Plumbers and electricians more or less solve the same problems over and over with slightly different parameters, and because of the repetitiveness, they can do a good job by following (a hefty number) of rules of thumb (the building code). A software developer isn't going to go far just throwing design patterns at a problem (though many bad ones try).

[QuercusMax]

The plumber who has a robot who can make perfectly measured custom one-off tools and specially constructed piping runs inside your walls is going to have super powers compared to somebody who has to go to home depot and assemble a bunch of PVC pipes or whatever.

Just the other day I needed to make a calibration interface for a home automation app (pointing a dumb webcam at my washer and dryer so I can tell if they're done without running up and down two flights or stairs). I just wanted to be able to look at the whole scene and manually pick the ROI to extract and display on my home dashboard. So I asked the AI to build me a stupid little web UI where I can just click to select the ROI center, and what it built me in 10 seconds was perfect for my needs.

Was it pretty? Not really. Was it what I would have built myself? Not quite - but it solved the problem I had without me needing to remember or look up how to do all the specifics.

[ninjagoo]

> pointing a dumb webcam at my washer and dryer so I can tell if they're done without running up and down two flights or stairs). I just wanted to be able to look at the whole scene and manually pick the ROI to extract and display on my home dashboard. So I asked the AI to build me a stupid little web UI where I can just click to select the ROI center, and what it built me in 10 seconds was perfect for my needs.

The machines all beep when they're done.

A baby monitor in the machine area will accomplish the same thing :-)

But of course the project is much more fun ...

[tardedmeme]

Have you considered taping a sensor to the light, or measuring the electrical current flowing through the power cord? Both should be a bit more reliable. The idea of messing with mains power is scary at first but with basic precautions it's fine, and I think you can buy current meters with various interfaces if you aren't comfortable.

[QuercusMax]

Why would I buy power meters and mess around with indirect signals that don't measure what I want (how much time is left on the cycle) and instead just tell me whether it's running?

I already have an old webcam and raspi I'm not using, and they measure exactly what I care about.

[ninjagoo]

> how much time is left on the cycle

Ooh, new requirement!

Set timer on phone when setting timer on machine...

[QuercusMax]

Ah, but my washer and dryer love to lie to me and add 20 minutes to the cycle because they're "eco-friendly". And this is mostly to help my wife who has a brain injury and can't remember to set a timer.