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Software Friction

(www.hillelwayne.com)
141 points saikatsg | 1 comments | 17 Jun 24 06:06 UTC | HN request time: 0.58s | source
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WJW ◴[18 Jun 24 11:13 UTC] No.40716351[source]▶
> What about event planners, nurses, military officers?

As a Dutch ex-Navy officer, we just called this "friction" as everyone had read Von Clausewitz during officer training and was familiar with the nuances of the term. Militaries overwhelmingly address this problem by increasing redundancy, so that there are as few single points of failures as possible. It is very rare to encounter a role that can only be filled by a single person, a well designed military organization will always have a plan for replacing any single individual should they accidentally die.

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pjc50 ◴[18 Jun 24 12:23 UTC] No.40716962[source]▶
"The graveyards are full of indispensable men" -- attr. Napoleon

"I can make a brigadier general in five minutes, but it is not easy to replace a hundred and ten horses" -- attr. Lincoln (exact words vary by source)

It's noticeable how few computer wargames simulate any of this, instead allowing for frictionless high speed micromanagement.

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1. hermitcrab ◴[18 Jun 24 22:14 UTC] No.40722658[source]▶
I think quite a few wargames, both computer-based and pre-computer, simulate friction at some level.

The original Prussian Kriegspiel involved opposing players being in different rooms having information conveyed to them by an umpire (must have been a lot of work for the umpire).

The wargames used in the Western approaches to train WWII convoy commanders made players look through slots to restrict what they could see.

Computer wargames like 'Pike and Shot' often won't show you units unless they are visible to your troops. Also your control over units is limited (cavalry will often charge after defeated enemies of their own accord).