[zten]

Can’t wait for Musk’s team to finally peel back these layers, realize that the code actually implemented the laws, and have to admit they are the idiots and apologize for wasting the government’s money on a poorly-run audit.

[throw0101d]

> Can’t wait for Musk’s team to finally peel back these layers, realize that the code actually implemented the laws […]

Bloomberg's Odd Lots podcast had an episode on this: the hard part in replacing/updating government system is not the coding part. The hard part is understanding the policies that have been changed and modified over the decades.

See "This Is What Happens When Governments Build Software" (Jun 2023):

> There's a lot of frustration about the government's ability to build things in the US. Subways. Bridges. High-speed rail. Electricity transmission. But there's another crucial area where the public sector often struggles, and that is software. We saw it with the infamous rollout of Obamacare. We see it in the UX of the Treasury Direct website. And we saw it in the way state unemployment insurance systems broke during the pandemic. So why is it so hard for the public sector to build and maintain software? On this episode we speak with Jennifer Pahlka, the founder and former executive director of Code for America and author of the new book Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better, as well as Dave Guarino, who recently left the Department of Labor after working on upgrading the unemployment insurance system. Both have a long history of working on public sector software systems and they explain why the problem is so tricky.

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMtOv6DFn1U

One large component is that a lot of business rules and policies have been encoded into the software logic, and (re-)translating that into code in a new(er) language is part of the challenge.

Related, "Why COBOL isn't the problem":

* https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41420217

[gota]

> Bloomberg's Odd Lots podcast had an episode on this: the hard part in replacing/updating government system is not the coding part. The hard part is understanding the policies that have been changed and modified over the decades.

That is the hard part in any system, not just government. Especially government, maybe, but not uncharacteristically and certainly not exclusively!

[thecopy]

They wont admit anything

[flir]

At least we'll get a good example for the Chesterton's Fence wiki page.

[londons_explore]

Musks team wont be able to make any sweeping changes here that impact eligibility or payouts - thats the kinda thing where angry pensioners form a mob outside the white house and get front page coverage on every news outlet.

[cragger60]

The code doesn't necessa8ry implement the laws. There could easily be a flag on each record that indicates "current recipent" with a value of "n" or "y". The code, in that case could be something like: if current recipient = y, then print check.

[Bytewench]

I suspect any admission would be made with far less fanfare than what accompanied the accusations made today.

[ddgflorida]

No one is wasting money. These audits must be done. I do think however that the chances of anyone over 115, or deceased, collecting money is extremely low.

[haveamission]

What makes you have the impression that the government doesn't do audits, with actual professional auditors? Because it does, and does so regularly

[listenallyall]

If an audit ultimately finds that the computer code is perfectly aligned with the law, how does that make it a poorly-run audit, or a waste?

[zten]

Do you normally tweet your half baked “discoveries” as propaganda in an effort to undermine the government when performing an audit?

Edit: I really don’t think the way this audit is being conducted is out of a genuine love for America, or the American citizens, or even out of just wanting to do good work. This is very nakedly a dishonest, petty, and malicious investigation.

[belter]

"Fact-checking Elon Musk's claims in the Oval Office" - https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyjz24ne85o

[troupo]

This definitely warrants an /s even if it's obvious :)

[lenerdenator]

You'll be waiting a long time.

Rule #1 of the new American oligarch: never admit a mistake

[kolanos]

> Rule #1 of the new American oligarch: never admit a mistake

Is this really a new rule? By my understanding of history, this has been the standard operating procedure for governments since... well, since they became a thing. And when mistakes are admitted, they're done so very slowly. For example, it took the U.S. government nearly half a century to apologize for the Japanese internment camps.

[WalterBright]

Musk admitted in the White House interview that he'd made a mistake on the $50m for condoms to Gaza.

[drawkward]

Wait if you like, just dont hold your breath.