curl and git are amazing but they aren’t skyscrapers. Building a skyscraper, space shuttle, or integrated circuit is hard to organize even once, let alone to abstract over the process of organizing and building it so that it can be reproduced. I don’t think that problem is solved at all. And it’s not at all as simple as “just take the open source legos and slap a few of them together!”
> Building a skyscraper [...] is hard to organize even once, let alone to abstract over the process of organizing and building it so that it can be reproduced. I don’t think that problem is solved at all.
Hong Kong has over 9,000 high-rise buildings, of which over 4,000 are skyscrapers standing taller than 100 m (328 ft) with 554 buildings above 150 m (492 ft).
I'm going to suggest that high rise engineers have some pretty solid skyscraper templates today. The greater challenge likely comes from architects and investors wanting unique 'statement' designs.
You make good points. I think this illustrates well that software engineering is much more akin to writing than it is to carpentry/construction. Thus, a team of software developers is more akin to a team of story writers than a team of carpenters. A software company is more akin to a newspaper (writers/reporter/chief editor) vs a construction firm (business giving direction to an architect and in turn a foreman + dozens of laborers)
Also I think with open source it has scaled. I don't have to reinvent curl