I can't remember where I read this, but I know I've seen it:

If architects made buildings the way computer programmers wrote programs, the first woodpecker to come along would mean the end of civilization.

One of the problems, I think, is marketing and timing constraints. Our company is building a machine very similar to a smartcard 'cash-on-a-chip' funding station. There are certain things that can go wrong with the mechanical side of things that we know could happen, but simply don't have time to compensate for before we have to get it to our client.

Contrast this with our transaction terminal that accepts these cards -- it has been in development for over four years, and since I took over its development from a contractor three years ago, the terminals have gradually gone from requiring a restart every two weeks, to running autonomously for several months without requiring maintenance on our part. (Right now I can see five devices that have been running since March 24th -- 114 days with no restart.)

--Stevie-O 
$"=$,,$_=q>|\p4<6 8p<M/_|<('=>
.q>.<4-KI<l|2$<6%s!<qn#F<>;$,
.=pack'N*',"@{[unpack'C*',$_]
}"for split/</;$_=$,,y[A-Z a-z]
         {}cd;print lc

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In reply to Re: (OT): 200-year software by Stevie-O
in thread (OT): 200-year software by dragonchild

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