I agree with you but what I would add is that what programmers miss is that there is a continuum between how much the underlying rules of the system can be changed and knowing when to expose these is actually your job as a programmer.

For example, users can always change a URL. This has allowed companies like Twitter to give a little URL-UI (UUI) to help power users while still letting normal people type in the search field. Way on the other end of the spectrum is a tool like Microsoft Excel where there is practically no limit to what a pro can do. Somewhere in the middle would be a sort of table-based design where admins could add simple rules (like layered tax rates, minimum requirements, or when a price change goes live) without needing to do a code deploy.