5 korrents from this piece
Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.
Their wordsBeing on call should not be a constant cycle of things breaking down and firefighting, or alerts going off at all hours. This is not ‘normal.’ These are telltale signs of a fragile system and lack of alert discipline.
Their wordsIt is engineering’s job to own their code in production. It is management’s job to make sure it doesn’t suck.
Their wordsIt’s reasonable to be woken up two to three times a year when on call. But more than that is not okay.
Their wordsThe ideal on-call rotation has seven to eight people; five people is a bare minimum.
Their wordsI generally come down on the side of ‘no, it’s part of the job,’ just like it is for doctors.