Q.E.D. 73 Frank AB2KT
On Dec 28, 2007 11:52 PM, Jim Lux <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Quoting Frank Brickle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, on Fri 28 Dec 2007 07:57:42 PM > PST: > > > On Dec 28, 2007 10:14 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > >> $250K/yr radio development engineers? What radio industry do you work > in > >> and where do I sign-on? > > > > > > Dan -- > > > > Most of these numbers reflect the Martian world of huge govvie > contractors, > > locked-up IP, and executing dollars. They're staggering under their own > > inertia and dead weight as it is. It's illuminating to realize that > software > > development methodologies are all about cost accounting. They have > nothing > > to do with software. > > > Nonsense on many fronts. > > 10 holidays yr + 15 days vacation/yr = 25 days. Out of 260 nominal > days/yr (52 wks), that's about 10% right there. > > Payroll and other taxes add about 10-15% (depending on the state, etc.) > > Rent/heat/lights is probably around $20-25/square foot/year and for a > 100 square foot cubicle, that's $2000-2500/yr, but, of course, you > probably also need lab space, so double or triple that. > > $300/month for desktop computer (lease + support+network infrastructure) > > Health insurance, etc. also adds up. > > Then you get into the overheads. > 10-20% of the employee's time is on non-task-productive work > (seminars, institutionally required training, etc.) (e.g. a lot of > companies allow 40hrs/yr for training.. that's 2% right there) > > 10-20% for administrative support (secretary, copying, etc.) > 10-20% for line management (G&A) > 10-20% for profit > > And, then, I assume you need to invest in some equipment periodically, > etc. > > It all adds up. I'll bet you'll find if you look at most surveys or > company balance sheets, a senior engineer, sitting at a desk, with all > the mod cons, will be pretty close to $200-250K/yr, depending on the > location. > > Interestingly, I just read a paper looking at the equivalent > development cost for Linux (full up RH7 distro with all the add-ons) > and he came up with a gigabuck. His data showed a "wrap rate" (fully > burdened multiplier) of 2.4 over raw salary cost (which is comparable > to my number above). > > > FWIW, a very, very tiny fraction of the cost is in closed source IP. > Most of it is just having a warm body sitting there doing useful work > on *your* task. > > > I'd also differ with you about software methodologies and cost > accounting, at least as a starting point. It's true that there IS a > fair amount of interest in measuring progress against funds expended, > but that's true of ALL industries, if they want to stay in business. > Most businesses don't have the luxury of being able to arbitrarily > slip delivery dates, have unlimited development funds, etc., and so, > they need to be able to have some way to know if they're making > progress, and what it's going to cost, so they can make those > investment decisions (make vs buy, if nothing else). No surprise then > that businesses want to be able to cast software development into a > conceptual framework that can be related to other investments the > company might make. I agree that a lot of the software development > methodology 'science' is aimed at making it possible for people who > know nothing about software development to manage it (a hopeless task, > in my opinion), but there is value in some of the fallout of that > desire. > > It's also interesting to note that the vast majority (80% plus, > according to an interview in 2004 with Andrew Morton) of the kernel > changes to Linux were made by someone being *paid* to make them.(that > is, it wasn't the work of unpaid volunteers) Clearly, whoever is > doing the paying has made some decision that the value of contributing > to the code base is worth some substantial non-zero investment of cash. > > > > > If you have a chance to read or hear any of what Bruce Perens has to say > > about shared infrastructure and Open Source vs. differentiating > technology, > > jump at the opportunity. He's really funny and eye-opening. > > > > 73 > > Frank > > AB2KT > > -------------- next part -------------- > > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > > URL: > > > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20071228/1030b136/attachment.html > > _______________________________________________ > > FlexRadio mailing list > > FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz > > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > > Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > > FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ > > FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > FlexRadio mailing list > FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ > FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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