Unix Programming - Xah's Edu Corner: IT Industry Predicament

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Xah's Edu Corner: IT Industry Predicament

Xah Lee

2006-01-20, 7:09 pm

IT Industry Predicament

Xah Lee, 200207

As most of you agree, there are incredible wrongs in software industry.
Programs crash, injurious tools, uninformed programers, and decrepit
education system. Over the years of my computing industry experience
since 1995, i have recently gradually come to realize the cause and
plan a solution. I wanted to write a cohesive account of my thoughts
one day. Here's a quick beginning:

=E2=80=A2 Most agree that computing industry has lots of problems, includin=
g:
extremely poor software quality, poorly qualified programers, and a
strayed education system. One final metric is the quality of today's
software, and consumer's experience with computers.

=E2=80=A2 In pretty much free market system of America, we can say that
software quality (or software related things) being the way it is is
out of natural selection. In other words: =E2=80=9Cdriven by economy=E2=80=
=9D, or,
a result that evolved naturally from competition.

=E2=80=A2 This naturally evolved result, does not mean it is the =E2=80=9Cb=
est=E2=80=9D
outcome. Simply put: =E2=80=9Coutcome=E2=80=9D does not mean =E2=80=9Cdesir=
ed outcome=E2=80=9D.
Think of it this way: the solutions from genetic algorithms arn't best
solutions, but best outcome from a given set of criterions and gene
pool and the coupling environment.

=E2=80=A2 We can see now that the state of software or industry is not
determined by idiotic and simplistic expectations such as quality of
design or intelligence of programers. How things come to be in society
do not have simplistic explanations, but sensible understanding is not
impossible. In a commercial software world, software's popularity or
trend is determined by the choices consumer makes. How consumer ends up
purchasing a software has a myriad of factors among them awareness, but
most responsible being the price/performance ratio, or just price.
Also, the majority of consumers are morons with respect to evaluating
software for their own good. This is why, the inept and FREE unixes and
Perl and C are everywhere. It is also why, the XXXXing incompetent
unixes though $free$ but has little place to stand in comparison to a
charging Microsoft when performance also enters the equation. This also
explains, the exorbitantly priced fashion-statement Apple
software/hardware combo are no more populous than those affluent. (not
because some XXXXing fashionable chant about how
good-things-are-always-unpopular XXXXing XXXX chant loved by vain
above-it g

s.)

=E2=80=A2 The reason XXXXing languages like C and family mask technically
superior ones like lisp are in large part due to the unix phenomenon as
explained above. C + Unix, incompetence + irresponsibility
bootstrapping each other $freely$. The unix things teach programers to
unthink. With their greed-based speed-based freely-distributable
popularity-based iconoclastic irresponsibilities spreading like
corruption do.

Solution: Understand and spread the word that writing bug-free software
are not difficult at all, and quality software can be as intuitive as
extra hands. When good programers understand this and catch on, good
software with responsible licenses will emerge. Eventually software
vendors will compete for more responsible software, one's that offer to
be penalized for every bug or crash or misfeature. In turn, this will
eliminate all XXXXing fashions and idiots in the software industry such
as the Design Patterns and eXtreme Programing or the TIMTOWTDI Perl
XXXX or the OOP fad or the XXXXing =E2=80=9CUniversal Modeling Language=E2=
=80=9D
XXXX.

Do you want software/industry to improve? Everyone want to be
millionaire when asked, but when they have to pay to be a millionaire,
they reconsider.

--
This post is archived at:
http://xahlee.org/UnixResource_dir/...redicament.html

Xah
xah@xahlee.org
=E2=88=91 http://xahlee.org/

Ulrich Hobelmann

2006-01-20, 7:09 pm

Xah Lee wrote:
> • The reason XXXXing languages like C and family mask technically

Contrary to popular opinion, languages don't multiply. Certainly they
don't have sex. Most (human) languages merely have something called
gender, and words don't interact. C has a bastard child called C++,
true, but that was basically created by genetic manipulation of the
original C, and indeed it's said to be 100% backward-compatible to C.

> Solution: Understand and spread the word that writing bug-free software
> are not difficult at all, and quality software can be as intuitive as
> extra hands. When good programers understand this and catch on, good

Yes, please go ahead. Oh, you said "good programmers." Never mind.

I know, don't feed the troll. Sorry 'bout that.

--
The problems of the real world are primarily those you are left with
when you refuse to apply their effective solutions.
Edsger W. Dijkstra

Eli Gottlieb

2006-01-20, 7:09 pm

Xah Lee wrote:
> IT Industry Predicament
>
> Xah Lee, 200207
>
> As most of you agree, there are incredible wrongs in software industry.
> Programs crash, injurious tools, uninformed programers, and decrepit
> education system. Over the years of my computing industry experience
> since 1995, i have recently gradually come to realize the cause and
> plan a solution. I wanted to write a cohesive account of my thoughts
> one day. Here's a quick beginning:
>
> • Most agree that computing industry has lots of problems, including:
> extremely poor software quality, poorly qualified programers, and a
> strayed education system. One final metric is the quality of today's
> software, and consumer's experience with computers.
>
> • In pretty much free market system of America, we can say that
> software quality (or software related things) being the way it is is
> out of natural selection. In other words: “driven by economy”, or,
> a result that evolved naturally from competition.
>
> • This naturally evolved result, does not mean it is the “best”
> outcome. Simply put: “outcome” does not mean “desired outcome”.
> Think of it this way: the solutions from genetic algorithms arn't best
> solutions, but best outcome from a given set of criterions and gene
> pool and the coupling environment.

Doing good...

>
> • We can see now that the state of software or industry is not
> determined by idiotic and simplistic expectations such as quality of
> design or intelligence of programers. How things come to be in society
> do not have simplistic explanations, but sensible understanding is not
> impossible. In a commercial software world, software's popularity or
> trend is determined by the choices consumer makes. How consumer ends up
> purchasing a software has a myriad of factors among them awareness, but
> most responsible being the price/performance ratio, or just price.
> Also, the majority of consumers are morons with respect to evaluating
> software for their own good. This is why, the inept and FREE unixes and
> Perl and C are everywhere. It is also why, the XXXXing incompetent
> unixes though $free$ but has little place to stand in comparison to a
> charging Microsoft when performance also enters the equation. This also
> explains, the exorbitantly priced fashion-statement Apple
> software/hardware combo are no more populous than those affluent. (not
> because some XXXXing fashionable chant about how
> good-things-are-always-unpopular XXXXing XXXX chant loved by vain
> above-it g

s.)

I'm sorry, but the $free$ Unixen are actually better operating systems
than Windoze. I didn't switch because I thought it was

or because
it was free, I switched because Linux crashed less, let me build it how
I wanted, and had loads of free software that actually worked. The
Unixen are the best thing out there right now, but a few of us are
working on (what we hope is) something better instead of just
complaining (kvetching) about it.

I agree about Apple, however.

>
> • The reason XXXXing languages like C and family mask technically
> superior ones like lisp are in large part due to the unix phenomenon as
> explained above. C + Unix, incompetence + irresponsibility
> bootstrapping each other $freely$. The unix things teach programers to
> unthink. With their greed-based speed-based freely-distributable
> popularity-based iconoclastic irresponsibilities spreading like
> corruption do.

Unix does teach programmers to think in C, that I must admit. I hope
that an operating system based on a better language (I know two which
will prominantly feature Lisp as a systems-programming language, Tin
Gherdanarra's Lisp OS and my Glider) will become popular enough to solve
that issue.

>
> Solution: Understand and spread the word that writing bug-free software
> are not difficult at all, and quality software can be as intuitive as
> extra hands. When good programers understand this and catch on, good
> software with responsible licenses will emerge. Eventually software
> vendors will compete for more responsible software, one's that offer to
> be penalized for every bug or crash or misfeature. In turn, this will
> eliminate all XXXXing fashions and idiots in the software industry such
> as the Design Patterns and eXtreme Programing or the TIMTOWTDI Perl
> XXXX or the OOP fad or the XXXXing “Universal Modeling Language”
> XXXX.

So the solution is to understand and spread the word that the problem is
unneccessary? Feh! Try something that will actually get the code
monkeys writing better stuff!

Keith Thompson

2006-01-20, 7:09 pm

"Xah Lee" <xah@xahlee.org> writes:
[the usual]

___________________
/| /| | |
||__|| | Please do |
/ O O\__ NOT |
/ \ feed the |
/ \ \ trolls |
/ _ \ \ ______________|
/ |\____\ \ ||
/ | | | |\____/ ||
/ \|_|_|/ \ __||
/ / \ |____| ||
/ | | /| | --|
| | |// |____ --|
* _ | |_|_|_| | \-/
*-- _--\ _ \ // |
/ _ \\ _ // | /
* / \_ /- | - | |
* ___ c_c_c_C/ \C_c_c_c____________

--
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) kst-u@mib.org <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
San Diego Supercomputer Center <*> <http://users.sdsc.edu/~kst>
We must do something. This is something. Therefore, we must do this.

Tim Hammerquist

2006-01-22, 3:57 am

Ulrich Hobelmann <u.hobelmann@web.de> wrote:
[ snip bait ]
> I know, don't feed the troll. Sorry 'bout that.

To quote Space Balls:

"Don't be sorry, be *quiet*!" :)

Cheers,
Tim Hammerquist

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