3 ms·

> And if I want to develop that simple software, it's easier than ever. I had a hearty chuckle at this bit. It’s completely out of touch. Modern software devel

> And if I want to develop that simple software, it's easier than ever. I had a hearty chuckle at this bit. It’s completely out of touch. Modern software development is far from simple. It also requires an Internet connection for getting packages.

paulddraper 3y ago
Are you pining for installable CDs?
- petermcneeley 3y ago
  The author IS pining for the economics of installable CDs yes.
  - smegsicle 3y ago
    common thought: it sure is convenient being able to download this from the internet uncommon thought: downloading this from the internet sure is more convenient than already having it
wredcoll 3y ago
Ah, yes, software sucks because <spins wheel> the internet exists. You know, you don't need the internet to develop software, you can still do it exactly like we used to in the 80s. Download gcc and start reading man pages.
- tzs 3y ago
  I think it is more distribution than development that is the big difference between now and pre-internet times as far as things that affect software quality go. When I worked at places making software that would be sold to users on floppy or CD in stores like Best Buy and CompUSA back when very few of those users had internet connections these things were true: 1. If a user needed help beyond what was provided by the printed manual that came with the software and whatever help system we built into the software itself they would call our toll-free support number. The typical cost of such a support incident was more than our profit on selling the software to that user. 2. To distribute bug fixes to existing users we'd have to mail them floppies or CDs. 3. The only future revenue we would get from existing users would be from them buying more of our products. These factors made management place a heavy emphasis on not shipping software until it was good enough that very few people would need support, that whatever bugs we missed were not severe enough or numerous enough that we'd have to ship updates, and that users would be happy enough with it that when they saw other products from us they'd want to buy them. You released your product when it was done, and then you moved on to work on your next product. When internet became the main means of both support and distribution much of that changed. Support became a lot cheaper for the developers for a couple reasons. First, users could turn to community forums that would often solve their problems without the company even getting involved. Second, if they did contact the company it would be via email or a web form rather than an expensive toll-free phone call. Distributing updates to users became routine, and even automated. Accordingly the number and severity of bugs that can be in the first release has gotten higher. It just has to be good enough to not piss the user off too much before you can release an update. The net (no put intended!) result is that nowadays people release at a stage when they have features and bug levels that in the floppy/CD retail days would have been considered beta or often even late alpha. So it is not really that software sucks nowadays compared to back then. It is that back then users didn't even see the software until it was finished. Nowadays they get the software while it is still being actively developed.
xboxnolifes 3y ago
Packages? If we're writing software like the good ol' days you're writing your own packages.
Turing_Machine 3y ago
In the "good old days", you had to write essentially everything yourself. "Packages" didn't exist. If you were one of the privileged few who had Internet connectivity, maybe you could ftp some useful stuff, or maybe not. What libraries and such did exist were mostly sold through the mail from ads in the backs of computer magazines. On floppy disks.

paulddraper 3y ago

Are you pining for installable CDs?

petermcneeley 3y ago
The author IS pining for the economics of installable CDs yes.
- smegsicle 3y ago
  common thought: it sure is convenient being able to download this from the internet uncommon thought: downloading this from the internet sure is more convenient than already having it

wredcoll 3y ago

Ah, yes, software sucks because <spins wheel> the internet exists. You know, you don't need the internet to develop software, you can still do it exactly like we used to in the 80s. Download gcc and start reading man pages.

tzs 3y ago
I think it is more distribution than development that is the big difference between now and pre-internet times as far as things that affect software quality go. When I worked at places making software that would be sold to users on floppy or CD in stores like Best Buy and CompUSA back when very few of those users had internet connections these things were true: 1. If a user needed help beyond what was provided by the printed manual that came with the software and whatever help system we built into the software itself they would call our toll-free support number. The typical cost of such a support incident was more than our profit on selling the software to that user. 2. To distribute bug fixes to existing users we'd have to mail them floppies or CDs. 3. The only future revenue we would get from existing users would be from them buying more of our products. These factors made management place a heavy emphasis on not shipping software until it was good enough that very few people would need support, that whatever bugs we missed were not severe enough or numerous enough that we'd have to ship updates, and that users would be happy enough with it that when they saw other products from us they'd want to buy them. You released your product when it was done, and then you moved on to work on your next product. When internet became the main means of both support and distribution much of that changed. Support became a lot cheaper for the developers for a couple reasons. First, users could turn to community forums that would often solve their problems without the company even getting involved. Second, if they did contact the company it would be via email or a web form rather than an expensive toll-free phone call. Distributing updates to users became routine, and even automated. Accordingly the number and severity of bugs that can be in the first release has gotten higher. It just has to be good enough to not piss the user off too much before you can release an update. The net (no put intended!) result is that nowadays people release at a stage when they have features and bug levels that in the floppy/CD retail days would have been considered beta or often even late alpha. So it is not really that software sucks nowadays compared to back then. It is that back then users didn't even see the software until it was finished. Nowadays they get the software while it is still being actively developed.

xboxnolifes 3y ago

Packages? If we're writing software like the good ol' days you're writing your own packages.

Turing_Machine 3y ago

In the "good old days", you had to write essentially everything yourself. "Packages" didn't exist. If you were one of the privileged few who had Internet connectivity, maybe you could ftp some useful stuff, or maybe not. What libraries and such did exist were mostly sold through the mail from ads in the backs of computer magazines. On floppy disks.