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Expecting perfection is wrong. There's 120 millions of lines of code in an A380, and planes don't crash due to software bugs. Why is it wrong to expect perfect

Expecting perfection is wrong. There's 120 millions of lines of code in an A380, and planes don't crash due to software bugs. Why is it wrong to expect perfection in critical infrastructure? Something went wrong somewhere in software engineering. My HP42s calculator has about 6 insignificant bugs that you need to get out of your way to trigger. Your new cellphone on the other hand, when you turn it on it downloads a gigabyte of updates! That's an outrage.

wil421 9y ago
You're comparing a relatively cheap credit report to a $400 million dollar airplane with a 15-25 billion euro program cost. Not to mention aerospace has a 100 years of innovation and has actual lives at stake. The internet, what 30ish years? Not to mention network security is a relatively new concern.
- HarryHirsch 9y ago
  At the end of the day it's a liability issue. If a plane crashes due to a software issue there's going to be civil suits to recover damages, very possible they'll also sue for criminal negligence. Why is software immune? You ask yourself about cost of the Office of Personnel Management hack from two years ago, and before that it was the biometrics database from the USCIS.
- theonemind 9y ago
  With a market cap of $18 billion for Equifax, it seems like they had the resources to get this right. I see the difference as who shoulders the cost. If you pay $400 million for a defective plane, you have one company whose toes you will hold to the fire. If you lose data worth $400 million for 138 million people, you have about $2.89 average per compromised person, so no single person will really go that far out of their way to crucify you, and if one does, they have perhaps tens of thousands of dollars to use in the legal system holding you accountable, not the millions one large wronged party may spend on it. In aggregate economic terms, in actual loss and negligence, I don't see that much difference. If you want to steal a lot, steal a small amount from a large number of people. It looks to me more like a matter of the feasibility of getting away with it.
- gaius 9y ago
  The Internet was a DARPA project originally. Why shouldn't it be up to Military or Aerospace standards?

wil421 9y ago

You're comparing a relatively cheap credit report to a $400 million dollar airplane with a 15-25 billion euro program cost. Not to mention aerospace has a 100 years of innovation and has actual lives at stake. The internet, what 30ish years? Not to mention network security is a relatively new concern.

HarryHirsch 9y ago
At the end of the day it's a liability issue. If a plane crashes due to a software issue there's going to be civil suits to recover damages, very possible they'll also sue for criminal negligence. Why is software immune? You ask yourself about cost of the Office of Personnel Management hack from two years ago, and before that it was the biometrics database from the USCIS.
theonemind 9y ago
With a market cap of $18 billion for Equifax, it seems like they had the resources to get this right. I see the difference as who shoulders the cost. If you pay $400 million for a defective plane, you have one company whose toes you will hold to the fire. If you lose data worth $400 million for 138 million people, you have about $2.89 average per compromised person, so no single person will really go that far out of their way to crucify you, and if one does, they have perhaps tens of thousands of dollars to use in the legal system holding you accountable, not the millions one large wronged party may spend on it. In aggregate economic terms, in actual loss and negligence, I don't see that much difference. If you want to steal a lot, steal a small amount from a large number of people. It looks to me more like a matter of the feasibility of getting away with it.
gaius 9y ago
The Internet was a DARPA project originally. Why shouldn't it be up to Military or Aerospace standards?