

Perfection does not exist - swombat
http://www.inter-sections.net/2008/05/19/perfection-does-not-exist/#more-68

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JesseAldridge
Related article: [http://lostgarden.com/2007/02/rockets-cars-and-gardens-
visua...](http://lostgarden.com/2007/02/rockets-cars-and-gardens-
visualizing.html)

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sammyo
e^i*pi + 1 = 0 is clearly a refutation.

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eru
Did you read the article that stated pi should be 2*pi instead?

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eru
It was one the old reddit once. Can somebody find it? It was way less crazy
than it seemed at first.

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noblethrasher
<http://www.math.utah.edu/~palais/pi.pdf>

Yes, it is an enlightening article. After I read it the first time, I
immediately began going through my old Complex Analysis and Physics textbooks.
That was one of the few experiences I would describe as 'thunderstruck'.

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edw519
"You, I’m sorry to say, don’t have the first clue what your users really
want."

And you, I'm sorry to say, don't know the first thing about me. And many like
me.

Many of us are "in the pits", developing and implementing for our users every
day. Our ideas come from them. We don't have the luxury of sitting in some
ivory tower or think tank "wondering" what users would like. They tell us
every day.

"there will be many side-steps, jumps and skips along the road. These are all
perfectly natural and to be expected."

Only by those who don't know what they're doing. There are a couple of "lost
arts" that, when performed properly, prevent the things that OP calls "your
fault". They're called Project Management and Systems Analysis.

I would change "perfection does not exist" to "success is elusive". You have
to know how to achieve it. The article's conclusions makes me wonder how much
the OP actually has.

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gruseom
_There are a couple of "lost arts" that, when performed properly, prevent the
things that OP calls "your fault". They're called Project Management and
Systems Analysis._

Project Management and Systems Analysis create a straightforward path to
success? Wow. Then how come they are "lost arts"?

Actually, I know how most advocates answer this question. They say it wasn't
(to use your phrase) "performed properly". This is the ultimate teflon defense
of any software process theory. If it succeeded, you performed it properly; if
it failed, you must not have.

~~~
edw519
There's a lot of voodoo going on that's called "Project Management" and
"Systems Analysis", but isn't.

My logic?

a. OP claimed that his readers don't know what their users want. I am his
reader. So I don't know what my users want.

b. I _do_ know what my users want because I have conducted "proper" systems
analysis. (Perhaps "sufficient" would be a better word that "proper".)

Therefore:

c. OP must not know what Systems Analysis really is or he never would have
made his initial claim.

A few comments about some of the things needed to conduct "proper" systems
analyis:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=84977>

I wonder how much of this OP did before he claimed that his readers didn't
know what their users wanted. Often people claim that something can't be done
because they have never done it.

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mattdennewitz
is perfection a dichotomy paradox?

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eru
Yet.

