[SystemSafety] "FAA chief '100% confident' of 737 MAX safety as flights to resume"

[paul_e.bennett at topmail.co.uk]

On 11/30/2020 at 5:03 PM, "Olwen Morgan" <olwen at phaedsys.com> wrote:
>
>On 30/11/2020 00:59, Les Chambers wrote:
>
><snip>
>
>> In the abstract, should we trust software to make any unstable 
>real-
>> world system of any kind, stable, predictable and safe?
>> As a card-carrying stoic I offer that the no voters are about to 
>be overrun by the reality of apps
>> such as driverless cars where software failure will , with high 
>probability , result in injury and
>> death.
>> Further, be advised that the yes voters have been operating for 
>some time.
>
><snip>
>
>YES voters bear the obligation of ensuring that the interfaces 
>between 
>the various other systems engineering disciplines and software 
>engineering are well controlled; that is, on each side of a 
>critical 
>interface, both kinds of engineers have an unambiguous 
>understanding of 
>what the software is to achieve and what stress conditions it must 
>withstand. If that degree of control is achieved, then, *on  a 
>case-by-case basis*, I would not *necessarily* oppose the use of 
>software to compensate for the properties of a simple but not 
>entirely 
>robust physical design.
>
>But the NO voter in me simply observes that the degree of 
>technical 
>control that this implies is one that has been very rarely 
>achieved in 
>my working experience of critical systems engineering. In 
>practice, 
>therefore, a software engineer who objects to clearing up the 
>ordure 
>left by other disciplines is simply exercising an eminently 
>reasonable 
>right not to be landed in the said ordure where they may be blamed 
>for 
>things that were not their fault.
>
>In general, I have found interface control to be the weakest 
>aspect of 
>software development processes with which I have had to work.

I recall a while back that someone stated about 'speaking truth to power'
and as a professional, we have the duty to sometimes say NO and really
mean it (I think it may have been Les Chambers). Even someone not
recognised for the safety critical systems world is seemingly in agreement
here.

“Slaves are not allowed to say no. Laborers may be hesitant to say no. But
professionals are expected to say no. Indeed, good managers crave someone
who has the guts to say no. It’s the only way you can really get anything done.”
― Robert C. Martin, The Clean Coder: A Code of Conduct for Professional
Programmers 

I find I have to learn a lot about what it is expected that I am to control
before I will even be able to write the technical spec, let alone a line of
code. Sometimes, they try and brush the responsibility to software even
when it is the least suitable discipline to take it on.

Regards

Paul E. Bennett IEng MIET
Systems Engineer
Lunar Mission One Ambassador
-- 
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Paul E. Bennett IEng MIET.....
Forth based HIDECS Consultancy.............
Mob: +44 (0)7811-639972
Going Forth Safely ..... EBA. www.electric-boat-association.org.uk..
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