It amuses me that a thread or two above we've got complaints that 'strip-mining' and 'extraction' are forced metaphors, taking it too far, and here we are - afaict pretty seriously - talking about software as AK47s & F-35s.

Analogies are useful, even when they're not serious. Yeah I didn't mine that strip mining one too much. This one's fun because it targets complexity and power, both of which have shot through the roof since the early days.