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The metaphor extends to cover your point! I doubt that the wifi installers were unaware of the existing design patterns, since the language is pretty clear. I t
by gnfargbl 3y ago
The metaphor extends to cover your point! I doubt that the wifi installers were unaware of the existing design patterns, since the language is pretty clear. I think it more likely that they were working to a budget and a timescale, which led them to prioritize functionality and expediency over maintaining the purity and clarity of the design. And isn't that like so much software maintenance?
- jameshart 3y agoAnd actually even more: the Wi Fi installers maybe even thought they were being respectful of the original design by installing unobtrusively. They didn’t feel like they had the authority to introduce a whole new infrastructure paradigm. They saw the people who went before them as having laid down an inviolable framework rather than a pattern for them to follow. And damn it if that doesn’t describe the problem with so much legacy software development. Maintainers need to realize that they have just as much right to leave their mark on the code as the original authors. You don’t need to be unobtrusive and tiptoe around. It’s often the lack of ambition in software maintenance that dooms the system ultimately to become a legacy burden and ultimately get torn down and replaced.