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We see this all the time in healthcare. MRI imaging machine that cost 500k 20 years ago still works fine but only on Windows XP. Cost to rewrite the software fo

We see this all the time in healthcare. MRI imaging machine that cost 500k 20 years ago still works fine but only on Windows XP. Cost to rewrite the software for windows 10 is more than 500k so rather than paying for that instead they firewall the shit out of it so it can only talk to some printing / output device. That’s just one example. Medical machines are expensive as hell and companies don’t want to rebuy or constantly invest in something that works and does one thing well.

bradgessler 4y ago
I was visiting my parents this summer and they have a Gameboy from 1991 with a Tetris cartridge, which was authored in 1989. They use it regularly and it still works! For over 30 years this device has played Tetris without requiring any software updates.
krmboya 4y ago
Not familiar with such kind of software, but if it were written for, say, Linux, would it need such an expensive rewrite to work with current versions?
- ithkuil 4y ago
  I still run software I wrote for Linux in 1998. It runs in a LXC container with all the old libraries and it must run in an Xvnc session with a window manager of the era because there is a Qt1 widget that opens a kind of drop down menu that just doesn't work with any modern window managers. I probably wouldn't bother to try to port it to modern versions of Qt or whatnot even if I hadn't lost the source code 15y ago. So yes, it happens, it's possible, it sucks
- pnutjam 4y ago
  that gameboy cartridge isn't working on a modern system either...
Kalium 4y ago
Not to split hairs, but I think what you've described is constant investment in something that works and does one thing well. The firewalls and management and maintenance are all ongoing costs to manage the risk. Software is never just an artifact. It's a whole system, of which the source code and binaries are some components. If you do not manage those artfacts, the next best option is generally managing the environment.

bradgessler 4y ago

I was visiting my parents this summer and they have a Gameboy from 1991 with a Tetris cartridge, which was authored in 1989. They use it regularly and it still works! For over 30 years this device has played Tetris without requiring any software updates.

krmboya 4y ago

Not familiar with such kind of software, but if it were written for, say, Linux, would it need such an expensive rewrite to work with current versions?

ithkuil 4y ago
I still run software I wrote for Linux in 1998. It runs in a LXC container with all the old libraries and it must run in an Xvnc session with a window manager of the era because there is a Qt1 widget that opens a kind of drop down menu that just doesn't work with any modern window managers. I probably wouldn't bother to try to port it to modern versions of Qt or whatnot even if I hadn't lost the source code 15y ago. So yes, it happens, it's possible, it sucks
pnutjam 4y ago
that gameboy cartridge isn't working on a modern system either...

Kalium 4y ago

Not to split hairs, but I think what you've described is constant investment in something that works and does one thing well. The firewalls and management and maintenance are all ongoing costs to manage the risk. Software is never just an artifact. It's a whole system, of which the source code and binaries are some components. If you do not manage those artfacts, the next best option is generally managing the environment.