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A few ideas on what "good software" (not "good code"!) is, touching ethics, interop, commercials and functionality 🧵

for context: the second edition of "Observability Engineering" starts off swinging with an opinionated chapter called "The Fundamentals of Building Good Software". which begs the question... what IS ✨ good software ✨? i'll drop my answers 👇 but curious to hear others.

Duncan Brown

@duncanjbrown.com

1. Good software works, which means it does what is expected according to the consensus reality shared by the team, the rest of the company, the community, etc, and it can change as the consensus reality changes.

27/10/25, 6:41 am0 reposts0 likes

Duncan Brown

@duncanjbrown.com

27 Oct 2025

2. Good software does not pursue lock-in. It seeks to actively participate in open standards and to improve them where tasteful and appropriate. Ideally it does not need to care what its own commercial model is.

Duncan Brown

@duncanjbrown.com

27 Oct 2025

3. Good software does not force its user to deviate from standard operating procedures (e.g. just run a process in a container) without very good reason.

Duncan Brown

@duncanjbrown.com

27 Oct 2025

4. Good software remains attentive to the needs of its users throughout its lifetime.

Duncan Brown

@duncanjbrown.com

27 Oct 2025

5. Good software does not make the world worse by deliberately enabling violence or injustice.