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Why Do Computers Still Crash?
geoff lane asks: "I've used computers for about 30 years and over that time their hardware reliability has improved (but not that much), but their software reliability has remained largely unchanged. Sometimes a company gets it right -- my Psion 3a has never crashed despite being switched on and in use for over five years, but my shiny new Zaurus crashed within a month of purchase (a hard reset losing all data was required to get it running again). Of course, there's no need to mention Microsoft's inability to create a stable system. So, why are modern operating systems still unable to deal with and recover from problems? Is the need for speed preventing the use of reliable software design techniques? Or is modern software just so complex that there is always another unexpected interaction that's not understood and not planned for? Are we using the wrong tools (such as C) which do not provide the facilities necessary to write safe software?" If we were to make computer crashes a thing of the past, what would we have to do, both in our software and in our operating systems, to make this come to pass?
Same reason cars crash.... people ;-)
Crash? What crash?
radagast% uptime
8:56pm up 582 day(s), 12:45, 22 users, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.01
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
That's called job security man!
Actually the Zaurus he mentions crashing in the article runs a roll-your-own Linux kernel... ;)
*0;
never follow the null pointer they said... what are they hiding there????
-judging another only defines yourself
That sir, is a TRUE statement.
Everyone leaves some code that only they can fix...
My Standards for variables:
_needthis
_needthis1
_x
_uz
etc
Solid!
Atoms! Look! Atoms are everywhere! They're causing the struction of all we hold dear to us! Atoms are to blame!
-Montgomery Burns
Anyway remember, it's not a bug, it's a feature...
I never thought of that...although I do confide in my DBA who does the same thing with his procs, derived tables and jobs...he would handle it, I would come back like Swayze and help him out...
Solid!
I find that is really easy to wrong code. I do it all the time...
But eliminating bugs would take all the fun out of programming!
14% of all people know that.
--
the strongest word is still the word "free"
And, when the cocaine that let's YOU do all these things wears off, you'll crash!
"It's an erotic, spectacular scene that captures the thrusting, violent, vibrant world Bohemian spirit..."
The current issue of Scientific American states that 51% of crashes are due to user error. 15%=software error. 34%=hardware error. Refer to article for further info.
It seems to be one of the most popular things to do is to blame the software creators, or the human operators. Thats not the reason my computer crahes Why does my computer crash? Well, when you spend hours of your day looking at thigs you shouldn't be looking at (wink wink), and other memory consuming things, (chatting, all those programs that even though I disable from starting up [yes, using regedit] still manage to start) just eat away at my computer. And finally, the most important and Sane reason of all. The Underpants Gnomes. They finally figured out what stage two is. Stage 2 part a; Crash My computer, Stage 2 part c; Use the underpants to make profit. Thanks for listening to my rambling post.
Now this is just plain wrong, not to start a flame war. We know that i+1 > i for all i, without having to test each case. We are reasonably certain that there are infinite primes, and are sure that PI has an infinite number of digits. Did we compute either to their entirety? No. We can use induction to figure those out. If each interface is built with a proven induction hypothesis, code will never fail. However, code can be overly complex, and people make mistakes, aren't knowledgeable enough to produce said code, and definately don't certify that their code will provide said results. While I do agree with you that you can't test for every case, this doesn't mean that perfect code can't be constructed.
I expect that my calculator will respond with "ERROR" right after I hit [+]. And it doesn't have an [=] button.
/RPN geek
Isn't that "restore him from backup?"
The Spoon
Updated 6/28/2011
... doing dirty things with clay?
I expect that my calculator will respond with "ERROR" right after I hit [+].
too much RPL for ya.... now drop the hp and come with hands in sight
Debian tested in every state, works good everywhere. I have yet to prove that it does not work anywhere in any way. I can not say the same thing for any other software I've ever run on a PC.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
This message has no text. This page intentionally left blank. This sentence no verb. :)
We know that i+1 > i for all i,
Except when i == 32767 !
(tee hee!)
I must be able to, I'm feeling flushed and my nipples are hard.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
You are acting like you can actually play a decent game on Linux. HINT: Some freeking penguin on a sled doesn't count as a decent game.
And just when being into computers was starting to get "cool" (think The Matrix, Hackers, or Swordfish) someone like you comes along and start talking about Dungeons and Dragons. There go my chances of getting laid. There go all our chances of getting laid.
He dies.
I've been in your game and you're a dick. ;)
Of course I was. I was thirteen at the time, in to D&D and computer programming, and couldn't get any girls.
Had they had video labs at my highschool and file sharing networks, back at the end of the 80s, I'd have been the fat kid making lightsaber noises while waving a broomstick around.
Here in the Slashdot world of "definately" and "righting", I've learned that any posted comment that makes high-school-level grammatical or spelling errors is not worth my time and I immediately skip the post. I've been doing this quite rigorously lately -- blah blah blah "seperate" PAGE DOWN.
You are just asking for it. :) Yes, you are. So here it is:
"high-school-level" should not be hyphenated. That is a High School level grammatical error.
That sound you hear is the toilet flushing your shit away.
Like what I said? You might like my music
>># You can't prove that most software works.
No-one can be told if this software runs.
You must compile it for yourself.
I've experiments to run, there is research to be done on the people who are still alive.
dear IDIOT
If installation program crashes "on multiple systems" and "at various points", there is a 99.9% chance of bad CD. I bet if you just exchanged the CD it would work just fine. How morons like you are even let near computers, let alone "have a conversation with an IT manager at IBM" is beyond me. Mayber this is the real reason computers crash and IT sucks - CLUELESS IDIOTS LIKE YOU.
jeez
Eliminate the user. That takes care of half of the problems...
or something like that...
"Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
It's windows, not even the bugs work properly...
I mod down anyone who says "I will be modded down for this", regardless of the rest of their comment
>
Have you ever met a user? They will rip out IDE cables while an OS is being loaded. They're savage, man! They're beasts and there's no proper defense!
" A correct program does not allow a user to enter erroneous data." Name me one program that will keep a user from using the CD tray from acting as a coffee holder.