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Sender: "Team Ada: Ada Advocacy Issues (83 & 95)" <[log in to unmask]>
From: "S. Ron Oliver" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 07:59:17 -0700
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Reply-To: "S. Ron Oliver" <[log in to unmask]>
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At 12:27 PM 2/14/01 -0500, W. Wesley Groleau x4923 wrote:

>Mike Feldman points out that folks don't care about validation because
>lack of it doesn't cost them anything.  The same could be said about
>software quality.
>
>And lack of quality doesn't cost anything (not much anyway)

Ah.  But this is where I think we have ALL been "lulled" into the MS (see
below) propaganda campaign.

>because
>several vendors (with Microsoft way out in the lead) have brainwashed
>the masses into EXPECTING garbage off the shelf.

(By the way, although they no doubt excel at it, MS does not hold the
market on this brainwash campaign, probably much to their chagrin.  :)

I believe users (especially those of us who use software to develop
software) DO care, and a LOT.  I very much resent the roughly 2 hours of
time per week - typical, often worse - I lose because of entirely
inexcusable problems with the software I am using.

The problem is not that "lack of quality doesn't cost ...much".  It
actually costs a hell of a lot.  Since I only work part time, 2 hours per
week is roughly 10 percent of my time.  How many employers out there would
be happy if their employees opened a time account number for  "dealing with
sucky software" and consistently logged 10% or more of their time against
that number?  I'd venture to say even Mr. G. would sit up and take notice
at that.

The problem is we simply ignore the various and sundry ways lack of quality
is costing us all dearly.  This is a main objective of the software sucks!
lecture - to get people to pay closer attention to what sucky software is
doing to us.

The "10% development cost" figure I have quoted here is just the tip of the
ice berg.  When (not if) people start accounting for all the lost revenue,
lost opportunities, lost property, even lost lives, attributable to lack of
software quality - and especially when the general public comes to
understand that the "C-world" excuse that "software just can't be done
right" is just plain false - I think we are going to see a war against lack
of quality that makes Ralph Nader look like a Girl Scout out on a Sunday
picnic.  :)

sro

S. Ron Oliver, semi-retired professor of Computer Science and Computer
Engineering.  www.csc.calpoly.edu/~sroliver

caress Corporation is proud to be the U.S. representative for Top Graph'X,
developers of high quality software components, using Ada.  For more
information, check out www.topgraphx.com.

Tired of sucky software! ?  Check out www.caressCorp.com and follow the
links to software sucks and The Oliver Academy.

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