
Software That Lasts 200 Years  - prakash
http://www.bricklin.com/200yearsoftware.htm
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gills
Public infrastructure may be designed to last many decades, but at least
around here (Seattle) it only lasts a few years before being 'upgraded' for
whatever reason, usually due to growth. On a meaningless and cynical tangent,
I think the reason is to keep the construction firms employed.

The same seems to be true of much of our software. The core concepts are
solid; but the growth rate of datasets and improvements in technology warrant
constant replacement of old infrastructure with new. Whether the improvement
is for efficiency or fun, it happens.

Reading further down the article (find the bulleted list), this individual's
thought process is quite frightening. The argument seems to be for the removal
of 'societal infrastructure software' from the free market, existing instead
in a subsidized walled garden of chosen businesses. Municipalities would then
have to rely on the products of such organizations.

To me this looks like an argument for the establishment of Looters. I'll grant
the author good intentions, but not my agreement. Software, even for
infrastructure, needs to continue being produced in a market setting where
fast-paced innovation is embraced and praised, rather than feared.

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zandorg
Common Lisp is future friendly. I downloaded a code profiler from around 1991,
and it worked fine in Clisp in 2007 with no changes!

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dkokelley
First reaction: I agree. The systems we're building today should be able to
support us well into the future.

The problem is that technology has advanced so quickly that what was adequate
a few years ago (up to 20, even), is not going to work. We couldn't really
predict that we would have taken to this whole technology thing so openly.

...after all, "640K ought to be enough for anybody."

