Technology has always developed on the premise of human error.

When I was a junior developer,

I heard an impressive story from a colleague I worked with.

He recalled his time developing services at a large telecommunications company in Korea like this.

One day, due to a mistake by one developer,

an incident occurred where all the source code on the server was deleted entirely.

It's hard to imagine by today's standards,

but back then, there were no version control tools or proper backup policies.

The code on the server was the 'sole original',

and its disappearance meant the project itself was gone.

The entire team fell into a panic at that moment,

and after a moment of silence, the team leader said this:

“Well… since it’s happened, let’s go have some makgeolli.”

It might sound like a joke,

but it was actually closer to resignation, meaning there was nothing more they could do.

Unexpected Salvation, and a Fact No One Spoke Of

However, just as they were about to leave,

a freelance developer on the team cautiously spoke up.

“Perhaps I…

after finishing work each day, I zip the source code

and keep it on my personal PC.”

The moment they heard that,

the atmosphere in the meeting room completely changed.

The ironic part is,

that action was actually a clear violation of the company's security policy.

Storing source code in a personal repository was not permitted.

Nevertheless,

no one objected.

At that moment,

saving the project was more important than the regulations.

In the end, they returned to the office without finishing their makgeolli,

unzipped the files, and stayed up all night restoring the lost code.

It wasn't perfect, but the project survived.

A Story That Rarely Happens Now

The colleague added,

that such an incident would hardly happen now.

1. Because there's Git,
2. there are branching strategies,
3. there's automatic backup,
4. and there are CI/CD pipelines.

It's not because people don't make mistakes,

but because technology has evolved with the premise of human error, which was impressive.

Technology Grows by Acknowledging Human Imperfection

People make mistakes.

And the history of software

is not an attempt to eliminate those mistakes,

but a process of designing systems that can withstand them.

1. Version control started from the fact that “people can delete code,”
2. backup is the result of acknowledging the premise that “data will disappear someday,”
3. and automation was created based on the understanding that “people are not always perfect.”

Good technology

does not demand perfection from people.

It creates a structure that doesn't collapse even if people make mistakes.

That’s Why This Story Lingers

The makgeolli that day

was not just a simple anecdote,

but felt like a symbol that clearly shows why technology has evolved into its current form.

Technology does not deny human mistakes.

Technology evolves in a safer direction, based on those mistakes.

This is why the story I heard from my colleague

still comes to mind often.