Company
Date Published
Author
Des Traynor
Word count
271
Language
English
Hacker News points
None

Summary

Nothing comes for free in software, as the costs of development, maintenance, and support are not negligible. The act of discussing or debating whether to implement a feature incurs time costs, while the actual implementation, testing, and verification processes also incur significant expenses. Communication with customers, team members, and support teams is never free, requiring resources for documentation, tutorials, and updates. Once a feature is implemented, ongoing maintenance and support are necessary, adding to the overall cost of ownership. Just like house pets, new features may seem like a bargain at first but can become costly in the long run due to their ongoing expenses.