Post #1952393

2026-05-02 10:41 UTC

Something I've only come to appreciate recently. When an engineer hears "tech debt" they hear "bad". You don't want to go into debt if you can help it. It makes you anxious. You want to pay it off ASAP. But for business folks debt is just a tool to enable more growth. Debt is good, it's essential. You pay it off from future growth, or roll it over. But tech debt doesn't work like that. I think this leads to a lot of miscommunication and frustration.

Replies (11)

@gosha@merveilles.town 2026-05-02 10:42

@plexus@toot.cat yes, so much miscommunication!

Open ##2278278
@Ardubal@mastodon.xyz 2026-05-02 10:48

@plexus@toot.cat Yes, in our team, we call it »risk«.

Open ##2278279
@eljojo@ruby.social 2026-05-02 12:42

@plexus@toot.cat this is a really good point. when I had my own company I made sure we had no debt. when I joined a large corporation, I was genuinely humbled after seeing how much debt they can get away with. drawing on the tool angle too, it’s good to remember compounding interest. this corporation was definitely paying the cost.

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@contrasocial@mastodon.social 2026-05-02 13:12

@plexus@toot.cat That's why I prefer tech asbestos.

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@toxi@mastodon.thi.ng 2026-05-15 10:59

@plexus@toot.cat Tech debt works very well for startups/businesses with an explicit intent to sell/exit in the near/medium future, because then it's exactly the same as how banks are selling debt and turning it into a SEP (a "Someone Else's Problem")... I also met contractors who're completely transparent about their main selling point being to never miss a deadline at any cost, and refuse taking on any maintenance contract (incl. for their own work). The code produced was as R-rated as you can guess, but they kept their promise and producing tech debt is/was essentially their business model! Maybe players like that are required in an economy so that various other places specializing in consulting & maintenance can actually can survive... 🙃

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@deech@mastodon.social 2026-05-15 11:32

@plexus@toot.cat need a term that combines the concept of debt and forever

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@khinsen@scholar.social 2026-05-15 14:10

@plexus@toot.cat Here is an explanation by @k9ox@mastodon.radio, who coined the term: http://found.ward.bay.wiki.org/view/debt-metaphor-explained

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@dingemansemark@scholar.social 2026-05-15 14:19

@plexus@toot.cat 🤯 excellent point!

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@aemstuz@mastodon.com.pl 2026-05-15 14:43

@plexus@toot.cat You mean that business people appreciate poor quality software rot? Well, that explains a lot…

Open ##2620362
@robertcasties@fedihum.org 2026-05-16 08:35

@plexus@toot.cat There is an epic treatise by apenwarr taking the meaning of debt to its extremes (in a good way) https://apenwarr.ca/log/20230605

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@do3cc@mastodon.social 2026-05-16 10:22

@plexus@toot.cat But it is the same for software. Making bulletproof software is more work meaning later time to market, meaning slower growth or even loosing market share. An engineer doesn’t want to go into tech debt, because he knows he only gets credit from loan sharks and somehow management finds ways to ignore interest payments and even ways to blame the engineer for the interest payments.

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