* but it should be<p>instead of arguing to stop custom solution and start building software and infrastructure as interchangeable parts, the article jumps to the very opposite conclusion<p>meanwhile, software as engineering actually exists and fly planes and bring spaceships to mun and beyond<p>the sad truth is that the customer often wants an engineered system but pretends it from college students paid in food stamps - well, you get what you pay for.<p>imho the first company that comes with an ikea model to the world of software - rugged, good enough, cheap - will dominate the next half century.<p>we're, at best, artisans and craftsman of software, but lets not pretend that's the trend. race to bottom will drive toward the win of mass engineering; we are actually already looking at this trend like now, where it is more and more reasonable to build an application out of existing services than rolling your own.<p>Just a decade ago would have been impossible in a year to bring about the same amount of feature today you can get for 9.99 off the shelf with the likes of intercom, keen.io, reveal.js, chargebee etc.<p>Software engineering is unfit for custom software development; that I concede; but it is just bound to happen as economy to scales drive do-or-buy decision toward microservices.