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The information on Groklaw is not intended to constitute legal advice. While Mark is a lawyer and he has asked other lawyers and law students to contribute articles, all of these articles are offered to help educate, not to provide specific legal advice. They are not your lawyers.

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"computer architects" | 238 comments | Create New Account

Comments belong to whoever posts them. Please notify us of inappropriate comments.

"computer architects"

Authored by: AlanF on Monday, April 23 2012 @ 10:31 PM EDT

When I was writing software that monitored sensors and controlled valves at a
refinery, my boss reminded me that a mistake in my code could, in his words,
"put a refinery into low earth orbit." An exaggeration, perhaps, but
it certainly focused my attention on the enormous cost of an error.

Coming from a career where a failure meant that "Really Bad Things
Happen", I am appalled by today's attitude of "just reboot" to
fix a problem.

And yes, we had to walk to school in the snow, uphill both ways. And we had to
code in raw ones and zeros, and sometimes didn't even have ones. :-)

[/soapbox]

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

"computer architects" - Authored by: Wol on Tuesday, April 24 2012 @ 07:35 PM EDT

"computer architects"

Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 24 2012 @ 03:40 AM EDT

One great difference between software and what real life engineers put together
is that bridges and buildings can degrade gracefully. A broken bolt will not
promptly collapse the whole structure.

Software is all critical path. One little broken bit and the whole thing
stops.

--

Bondfire

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

"computer architects" - Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 24 2012 @ 10:40 AM EDT
- "computer architects" - Authored by: ore on Tuesday, April 24 2012 @ 07:31 PM EDT

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