Dr Curious [email hidden] opined the following...
Quoted message said:If only you could.
I tried. The only potential lead that I could find is no longer on the
web and the only copy of the code that I know of for certain resides in
a University library in the states. While I'd be intrigued to see it, if
I had the money to visit the states, I'd buy a new bike instead!
Quoted message said:It would be so interesting to see what you made of it.
And the conclusions you drew.
Probably. But until it resurfaces we just wont know.
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:Well. Given the lack of the source an analysis of actual code is not
possible so it boils down to the following. A "good" coder would be
embarrassed by the [censored] that leaves Seattle bearing the M$ brand.
Nope. Gates delegated early on because he knew he needed to meet
deadlines. Meeting time - as opposed to size - deadlines has nothing
whatsoever to do with his status as a coder.
This has nothing to do with the point that I made (Not that this
normally stops you, just thought I'd mention it).
Quoted message said:His status as a coder rests solely on the code he produced himself.
Wrong.
Quoted message said:And on nothing else.
Wrong again.
If I become a carpenter and set up a business, my reputation as a
carpenter also stands on anyone that I sub-contract to do work on my
behalf. This general pattern is true for any trade.
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:Security hole after security hole. OS installers that don't work (Win98
would install from CD, then during its first reboot, fail to load the
CDROM drivers and thus be incapable of installing drivers for anything
else that it found as they were all on the CD. This is inexcusably
bad!). Standards non-compliant browsers (IE 4 was simply appalling). A
programming language (And I use the term loosely) like VB which has at
least two ways of executing function calls depending on the number of
arguments that you wish to pass. The amazing swelling Word document file
which starts at about 30K for an empty document, shrinks for a while as
you add things, then begins to bloat beyond comprehension until the only
way to control it is to copy the content out as text into a fresh
document and reformat it. Should I continue?
No because this is all totally irrelevant.
See above.
Quoted message said:Also you've shot yourself in the foot.
<looks down... no bleeding, must have misunderstood>
Quoted message said:For you to pick holes in the Behemoth which is Ms OS's & Applications,
it's necessary for someone to create the Behemoth in the first place.
And your point is? You are leading to one I presume.
Quoted message said:What doesn't appear to have crossed your mind, is that in the
time scale we're talking about, it would be impossible for any
New Startup human Organisation to create an even a marginally integrated
Behemoth, while subjecting it to frequent upgrades to keep the likes of
Intel happy, without it being full of the sorts of holes which
minnows like you take such delight in pointing out.
No. Maybe you're not. What, pray tell, is a "New Startup human
Organisation"? Would that be a business? Next question; what makes you
think that MS make software changes to keep Intel happy? Given that
their most publicised relationships were with AMD & Cyrix (Check the MS
branding on late-90s Intel-clone chips.
Finally, on what basis do you make the claim that it is impossible to
make software without holes? Holes occur through bad planning and bad
coding. The overflow holes which have plagued recent releases of Windoze
are often the result of sloppy memory management. Is it possible for a
car manufacturer to build a car that doesn't suffer from random engine
failures, or incompatibility with certain roads? Why do so many people
take it for granted that software will be problem-ridden when they'd cry
havoc over the similar problems in physical objects?
Quoted message said:While nobody can be even bothered to pick holes in OS's hardly
anyone uses in the first place. Just so as to inconvenience
a few hippies.
This would presumably be a guarded reference to Linux (and other
*NIXes). To answer that, check the number of coders who regularly
contribute code to the basic kernel and driver code for Linux. Linux is
not hole free, but it is possible for any user (with the knowledge) to
locate them, and there is an army of geeks who frequently do. The holes
also tend to require more computer knowledge than that possessed of the
average script kiddie and are thus exploited less frequently.
Quoted message said:You are so Yesterday's News Pal. You and your ilk. Bill's teams are
already patching together next years Apps. Full of even yet more
holes for you and your kind to get so excited about.
Wow. You're even proud that Bill's army of monkeys are producing new and
exciting bugs for the next release already.
Er... who are me and my "ilk" out of interest? Computer users.
Programmers? Cyclists? Men?
Quoted message said:What you need to remember is that Bill didn't force anyone to jump on
his train; nobody is forced to use Windows. Nobody is forced to send each
other emails via OE, or ever open attachments.
Too right. Which is why my friend is jumping ship completely, and as
soon as I can get a replacement mapping program for Linux (And my new
hard drive), I will be doing the same.
Quoted message said:So just stop whingeing, and learn to live with it.
I guess the same could be said about bad driving. After all, no-one
forces me to ride my bike on the roads and risk death or dismemberment
at the hands of a moron in a SUV but I choose to do so. This does not
remove my moral ground for criticising said moron, any more than it does
my moral ground for criticising M$.
Quoted message said:Yet more sour grapes and whining.
Not really. An accurate, honest and quite complimentary appraisal of Man
Gates' impact on the world.
Jon
