Equating "coders" and construction engineers is not the right comparison. The programmer is more akin to the person pouring the concrete per a good blueprint. When I have seen software projects fail, it was traceable to ill-defined requirements, poor system engineering, or inadequate software architecture. What is needed is a better method of defining a blueprint for software.
Most schools do not teach the software lifecycle. We do not need to license people in C, C++, Java, etc. We need to train/certify people in understanding requirements and designing software that meet these requirements (instead of meeting the latest trend or technology). We also need to better define the equivalent of a blueprint for software. We should settle on a standard (e.g. UML although not necessary so o-o geared) and then train/certify people on that standard. This will not be subject to the frequent technology turnover seen for implementation. Part of training must include how to form a test plan based on the requirements. Then the output of the programmers can be "certified" against the requirements, this being the proper test for the programmer's work.
The main failure of MS Windows is to concentrate on "neat" GUI features (a "trend") instead of basic requirements like availability and reliability. There is no word-processing requirement for a help window to grow from/fade to a corner of the window.
The success of Linux starts from the focus on basic requirements. Linus starting writing what he needed, not something he thought someone might consider "neat". The last major requirement for Linux is operability, esp. ease of use for the less technical. The challenge in meeting this is that it is as not much of a requirement for the people implementing it.
I was looking at the Dishnetwork DVHS receiver, but I think it has only analog I/O. If you have to go through analog RCA jacks to get to/from a digital camcorder or a computer, this system and the ones in the original post have much less appeal. Does anyone know of any way to record a digital satellite signal and then copy/edit it digitally?
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Equating "coders" and construction engineers is not the right comparison. The programmer is more akin to the person pouring the concrete per a good blueprint. When I have seen software projects fail, it was traceable to ill-defined requirements, poor system engineering, or inadequate software architecture. What is needed is a better method of defining a blueprint for software.
Most schools do not teach the software lifecycle. We do not need to license people in C, C++, Java, etc. We need to train/certify people in understanding requirements and designing software that meet these requirements (instead of meeting the latest trend or technology). We also need to better define the equivalent of a blueprint for software. We should settle on a standard (e.g. UML although not necessary so o-o geared) and then train/certify people on that standard. This will not be subject to the frequent technology turnover seen for implementation. Part of training must include how to form a test plan based on the requirements. Then the output of the programmers can be "certified" against the requirements, this being the proper test for the programmer's work.
The main failure of MS Windows is to concentrate on "neat" GUI features (a "trend") instead of basic requirements like availability and reliability. There is no word-processing requirement for a help window to grow from/fade to a corner of the window.
The success of Linux starts from the focus on basic requirements. Linus starting writing what he needed, not something he thought someone might consider "neat". The last major requirement for Linux is operability, esp. ease of use for the less technical. The challenge in meeting this is that it is as not much of a requirement for the people implementing it.
I was looking at the Dishnetwork DVHS receiver, but I think it has only analog I/O. If you have to go through analog RCA jacks to get to/from a digital camcorder or a computer, this system and the ones in the original post have much less appeal. Does anyone know of any way to record a digital satellite signal and then copy/edit it digitally?