Summary: the law says "A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. The inverse proposition also appears to

Summary: the law says "A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. The inverse proposition also appears to be true: A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be made to work. You have to start over, beginning with a working simple system." This is obviously closely related to Richard Gabriel's "Worse is Better", and the general philosophy of starting with a simple design, and iterating under the scrutiny of users.