bugs

[Rob Cozens]

Moi:

> I was more venting emotions built up after reading previous posts on 
> this thread

Apparently being rude to Geoff did not complete the catharsis, as I 
feel the need to offer these thoughts as well:

* Just so we're sure we're comparing apples to apples:  My closest 
contact on Microfinancial Corp's Flexware programming team used to say 
"FlexWare is bug free...so long as people use it the way they are 
supposed to."  If any among you are making the contention "my software 
is bug free" on the basis of "I tested all the features and they work 
for me", your definition of "bug-free" is quite different from mine: if 
5% or more of your users make the same mistake, that's your fault, not 
theirs.

* If the industry norm was that no software would be shipped if it 
contained a single known bug, there would be no industry...unless you 
can point to an operating system that meets that requirement.

* Considering the number of auto safety recalls, personal instances of 
packages (eg: auto parts) not containing what they are supposed to, 
spelling & grammar errors in newscasts, etc., I suggest if builders 
built buildings and auto workers built cars and packagers packed 
product the way programmers wrote programs and news writers paid the 
same attention to spelling & "grammar" as programmers, we might have a 
more productive society in general.  [Not that I fault workers for 
having no more dedication to their employers than their employers have 
for them.]

Rob Cozens, CCW
Serendipity Software Company

"There's nothing wrong with Capitalism except Capitalists:
  they're too damn greedy!"   -- Herbert Hoover