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A comment on Why software projects take longer than you think – a statistical model. Parent comment

Re:Why software projects take longer than you think – a stat... by danmaz74 on Tuesday April 16, 2019 @08:36AM (#19673077)
An alternative to flat out saying no is to point out how expensive and risky what you've been asked would be, in terms of development time, maintenance, and other metrics that the business cares about. Even very rough estimates with a list of risks will usually do.

If somebody else comes out with a much lower estimate, ask them what they think about risk A, B, C... if you've got a point, this will usually work.

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Re:Why software projects take longer than you think – a stat... by ddalex on Tuesday April 16, 2019 @10:15AM (#19673788)
That's a bingo! It's never No! It's "Sure, this is what it entails and this is how much it costs". Especially if you're a contractor. If their willing to pay the price, why not take the money and do the work?
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Re:Why software projects take longer than you think – a stat... by cs02rm0 on Tuesday April 16, 2019 @02:22PM (#19676000)
Mostly, I'd agree.

I have literally no idea how long it would take though, I couldn't in good faith put a number to it.

I also don't want the work - Windows isn't an environment I have experience in because it's an environment I don't want experience in. They wouldn't allow a rate change to do the work.

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Re:Why software projects take longer than you think – a stat... by kthejoker2 on Wednesday April 17, 2019 @07:22AM (#19681537)
Jerry Weinberg had the Orange Juice test which always struck me as a practical approach to all requests.

https://medium.com/intercom-inside/the-orange-juice-test-c90...

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Re:Why software projects take longer than you think – a stat... by ben509 on Tuesday April 16, 2019 @02:37PM (#19676122)
If you do this, identify beforehand what you think is non-negotiable. Because it won't be a technical discussion, it will be a negotiation and you're liable to be committed at the end of it.

Of course, once you're holding certain things as non-negotiable... you're saying no.

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