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Re:The other kind of staff software engineer by ncmncm on Friday May 13, 2022 @05:36PM (#31372777)
"Line vs staff" is a fundamentally bankrupt concept, as much so as "combat vs logistics". Wars are won or lost on logistics, as Russia recently discovered.

Money wasted in a "profit center" has exactly the effect on bottom line as the same waste in a "cost center", and failure of a "cost center" can have just as large an effect on your business as in a "profit center". The only meaningful distinction is that the return on investment in a "cost center" is gated by the success of "profit centers".

But, woe betide if you find yourself in a cost center at a company run by MBAs. Get yourself to a profit center, or to a better-run, less MBA-saddled company.

Re:The other kind of staff software engineer by dvtrn on Friday May 13, 2022 @05:56PM (#31372938)
as much so as "combat vs logistics".

First time I've ever heard these two things talked about as a matter of "this versus that" and not "combat and logistics".

I'd hate to be a CO or NCO under a General who looked at the two as somehow adversarial or mutually exclusive in terms of planning and resourcing.

Yours is quite an interesting analogy, here.

Re:The other kind of staff software engineer by Spooky23 on Friday May 13, 2022 @07:35PM (#31373659)
You’re used to reading about western militaries.

Look at the Ukraine War… Russia clearly completely ignored logistics and failed in their attempt at a “modern” war and quickly degraded to a WW1 style artillery duel.

And yes, being a NCO or field officer in the Russian army is miserable.

Re:The other kind of staff software engineer by chrisseaton on Friday May 13, 2022 @08:18PM (#31373891)
> First time I've ever heard these two things talked about as a matter of "this versus that" and not "combat and logistics".

Not sure if you’re being sarcastic? Or haven’t read much about the military and are assuming?

Combat vs combat support vs combat service support (logistics) is a very common and very significant distinction to make and usually matters a lot for a great many things.

Has a logistics branch officer ever led a major Army? We had an artillery officer in the UK and even that was a talking point at the time.