Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!im4u!ut-sally!utah-cs!defun.utah.edu!shebs
From: shebs%defun.utah.edu.uucp@utah-cs.UUCP (Stanley T. Shebs)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Cynic's Guide to Software Engineering, part 4
Message-ID: <5418@utah-cs.UUCP>
Date: 19 Apr 88 14:59:20 GMT
References: <2677@Shasta.STANFORD.EDU> <3396@zeus.TEK.COM> <1865@ssc-vax.UUCP>
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Reply-To: shebs%defun.utah.edu.UUCP@utah-cs.UUCP (Stanley T. Shebs)
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Organization: PASS Research Group
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Keywords: Software Engineering Education

In article <1865@ssc-vax.UUCP> dickey@ssc-vax.UUCP (Frederick J Dickey) writes:

>It strikes me as interesting that most of the software engineers I know would,
>if given the opportunity, prefer to work on the development of SE tools rather
>than work on some application program.

(Hi Fred!)  I observed that too when I was at Boeing, but I figured it was
because the applications were not always the most admirable ones.  Cruise
missile targeting, sub killing, electronic warface all sound exciting, but
the reality of DoD software is pretty sordid, and one can't help but be
bothered by the fact that the software is intended to be the brains behind
devices that kill other people (not a political flame, just an observation).

This brings up a general issue having to do with applications in general.
Software engineering is billed as mostly value-neutral with respect to the
application software, and SE ethics is pretty much concerned only with
personal responsibility for quality and perhaps the short-term effects of
automation on human workers.  Some people in the CPSR are keen to have SEs
consider long-term overall societal and environmental effects of their work,
such as whether the code in more sophisticated remote controls on TVs leads
to excessively sedentary lives :-), or whether home computer games lead to
the breakup of families (no :-) - check out CPSR newsletter about three issues
back).  So - the question: does an ethical software engineer work on whatever
the boss says, or only on those applications or parts of applications that
are considered "good"?

							stan shebs
							shebs@cs.utah.edu