If they ever restore the Usenet posts from prior to 1998 then there will be news to post about. The fact that the product review side of Deja is removed is not really news. All it does is remove one extra click (out of the the seemingly thousands it now takes to find anything on the web.)
Though the article had very little about poor software and the reasons for it, there was one point that it came up:
Regardless of the approach, however, Lanier says his purpose in writing essays such as the "One Half of a Manifesto" is to force engineers in both the proprietary and open source development camps to recognize that the issue of software quality has taken a back seat during the past decade. Whether this is due to sheer laziness on the part of programmers in response to faster and cheaper hardware systems or simply a fundamental blind spot in the software design community, Lanier isn't sure.
I say that the problem is all three combined.
One problem I did have with the article is the part about software being expression. Stop this nonsense. Software is a tool, a means to get something else done. Sure, there are some cases (such as the Perl Poetry) that are truly expressions but for the most part the software is written, not for the sake of writing software, but to get something else done. When we realize that the point is not writing the software but getting the work done, efficiently and without problem, then we will be so much closer to where we need to be that we will stop seeing articles like this.
I imagine that the few "mission critical" systems the DoD has are written in house, by programmers with high security clearance, so that the Department knows the source very well. This of course does not preclude backdoors being put in the software but it most definitely lowers the chance.
Of more interest, to me, is how this also coincides with the DoD's interest in performing attacks of this nature on other countries. It looks like cyberwarfare is picking up, with the increased use in the Isreali-Palestine conflict going on and the inherent spillover to US domains.
I wonder how good the in house hackers are at intrusion of other systems?
I am not suprised that tensions grow on ISS. Having served on a submarine for four years I can empathize with the crews up there. Work times being alloted wrong, having to fix something just to breathe, and not getting enough sleep or exercise are things that submariners put up with all the time.
Atleast they can look out the windows and see the earth!
While I agree with you, this doesn't excuse the companies that produce crappy code or products. Certainly a computer will have problems after it has been modified, new software installed, etc. The problem is when you get a brand new computer, only use the hardware that came with it and you still have problems and crashes. That is unacceptable
"Not until the consumers demand [quality] and get it from overseas will the reigning companies believe," he e-mailed me. "American computer and software companies are making too much money in the current environment to care."
That pretty much sums everything up - all the other examples are just icing on the cake. The computer industry has no reason to change thier practice as long as the consumer is willing to shell out money for buggy code.
The Atlanta area has been doing this for years and it hasn't been much of a problem. To dial anyone you must use the area code (even if they live next door and then they might have a different area code to begin with.) Sure, the change over is bit difficult (changing business cards, autodialers, etc) but everyone is used to it.
Slashdot Mirror
If they ever restore the Usenet posts from prior to 1998 then there will be news to post about. The fact that the product review side of Deja is removed is not really news. All it does is remove one extra click (out of the the seemingly thousands it now takes to find anything on the web.)
Regardless of the approach, however, Lanier says his purpose in writing essays such as the "One Half of a Manifesto" is to force engineers in both the proprietary and open source development camps to recognize that the issue of software quality has taken a back seat during the past decade. Whether this is due to sheer laziness on the part of programmers in response to faster and cheaper hardware systems or simply a fundamental blind spot in the software design community, Lanier isn't sure.
I say that the problem is all three combined.
One problem I did have with the article is the part about software being expression. Stop this nonsense. Software is a tool, a means to get something else done. Sure, there are some cases (such as the Perl Poetry) that are truly expressions but for the most part the software is written, not for the sake of writing software, but to get something else done. When we realize that the point is not writing the software but getting the work done, efficiently and without problem, then we will be so much closer to where we need to be that we will stop seeing articles like this.
Of more interest, to me, is how this also coincides with the DoD's interest in performing attacks of this nature on other countries. It looks like cyberwarfare is picking up, with the increased use in the Isreali-Palestine conflict going on and the inherent spillover to US domains.
I wonder how good the in house hackers are at intrusion of other systems?
Atleast they can look out the windows and see the earth!
While I agree with you, this doesn't excuse the companies that produce crappy code or products. Certainly a computer will have problems after it has been modified, new software installed, etc. The problem is when you get a brand new computer, only use the hardware that came with it and you still have problems and crashes. That is unacceptable
That pretty much sums everything up - all the other examples are just icing on the cake. The computer industry has no reason to change thier practice as long as the consumer is willing to shell out money for buggy code.
The Atlanta area has been doing this for years and it hasn't been much of a problem. To dial anyone you must use the area code (even if they live next door and then they might have a different area code to begin with.) Sure, the change over is bit difficult (changing business cards, autodialers, etc) but everyone is used to it.