The case in point (for me, at least), is with trying to find fittings for some tubing I'm dealing with. I'm trying to find some fittings for a hydraulic steering system I'm working on. Easy enough, right? Wrong.
It turns out that there are several different standards that are used to specify the threads on the fittings. Some of these standards are compatible/equivalent and others are not. And as far as I can tell, every company out there enjoys using a different standard for their labels. For example, an "AN-8" fitting (aka dash 8 or -8 or -08 or AN-08) is equivalent to a JIC 1/2" fitting, which is the same as a SAE J514 37° 1/2" fitting. This might lead you to believe that a half inch is a half inch, but you would be wrong. NPTF, NPSM and SAE J5143 fittings all have different (and incompatible) specs for their threads.
That's already more than most people would ever want to know about tubing and fittings. And that's in an industry that's been around for over 100 years, and which has tangible, physical products that anyone can test and verify as valid or not. Now consider the computer software industry: no physically verifiable deliverables, fairly young, full of people coming up with new ways of doing things every day. There's a loooong road ahead, and along that road, the people who can make the different pieces work together will always be in demand.
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