Do you understand what being a professional (in the formal sense) actually is? It means your first responsibility is to the public, not your employer, and you are legally responsible for the work that you do. That goes for doctors, lawyers, and yes, engineers.
If you as a civil engineer design an unsafe structure and it kills people, you can go to prison. If your employer demands you approve an unsafe design, the fact that you have to stamp the plans that get filed with the government gives you the power to resist. That’s what being licensed means.
If people making software don’t have that level of accountability – again, to the public, not to their megalomaniacal tech bro boss – then they ain’t engineers.
It only varies by jurisdiction in the sense that some jurisdictions care about protecting the public and some apparently don’t.
Do you understand what being a professional (in the formal sense) actually is? It means your first responsibility is to the public, not your employer, and you are legally responsible for the work that you do. That goes for doctors, lawyers, and yes, engineers.
If you as a civil engineer design an unsafe structure and it kills people, you can go to prison. If your employer demands you approve an unsafe design, the fact that you have to stamp the plans that get filed with the government gives you the power to resist. That’s what being licensed means.
If people making software don’t have that level of accountability – again, to the public, not to their megalomaniacal tech bro boss – then they ain’t engineers.
It only varies by jurisdiction in the sense that some jurisdictions care about protecting the public and some apparently don’t.
That’s not the law in every country as far as I understand, so this simply comes down to a matter of definition.
Case closed as far as I’m concerned. I’m quite satisfied with that.