[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message]

RE: Near and Far (Was RE: A parentless elemen t that

• To: 'Bob Foster' <bob@o...>, John Cowan <jcowan@r...>
• Subject: RE: Near and Far (Was RE: A parentless elemen t that is not the document node - how?)
• From: "Bullard, Claude L (Len)" <clbullar@i...>
• Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2003 08:35:59 -0500
• Cc: xml-dev@l...

Coders don't get that choice.  The assets are absorbed in a merger or 
buy out, they are laid off, and the code goes into a vault.  At NASA, 
systems were discontinued but the support systems still worked.  The 
Ground Launch Sequencer for the Shuttle was Apollo era technology. 

Asset reclamation is smart management. Market value is what the 
market is willing to buy.  Even a reconditioned programmer has 
value.

len


From: Bob Foster [mailto:bob@o...]

From: "Bullard, Claude L (Len)" <clbullar@i...>
>> Even if previously well-maintained, the value of code without the
developers
>> who wrote/maintained it is often $0.
>
> Spoken with true programmer hubris, and precisely why
> so many of you work for managers with English or History
> degrees.

If you're willing to buy a significant piece of software that even the
developers who wrote it won't work on anymore, there's a bridge in Brooklyn
with your name on it.

> The very best code with no market has a value of zero.
> If the market is still using it, the value is not yet zero.
>
> Otherwise a lot of freeware would be worthless.  Say PFE.

Utility and market value are two different things. Most English or History
majors understand that. That's one of the reasons they spend their time
managing instead of posting to newsgroups. ;-}

• Prev by Date: RE: Near and Far (Was RE: A parentless elemen t that is not the document node - how?)
• Next by Date: RE: Patented XML Compression Techniques (WAS RE: Binary XML == "spawn of the devil" ?)
• Previous by thread: Re: Near and Far (Was RE: A parentless element that is not the document node - how?)
• Next by thread: RE: Near and Far (Was RE: A parentless elemen t that is not the document node - how?)
• Index(es):
  • Date
  • Thread