For the good of software, software must die

by joshrule • 15 years ago

2 1 15 years ago

Travis• 15 years ago

While potentially true, this article has many flaws that seriously weaken it's points.

FTA, "software reproduces without cost and never wears out. This is unique in human history, and we have not yet come to terms with its downside."

One straightforward example of something that is a lot like software, in many ways, is literature. It is said that every author since the 17th century has had to kill off the ghost of Shakespeare. Even before that: "Paradise Lost" begins with several pages describing how it's better than the Greek and Roman epics.

In effect, every author of serious intentions has to grapple with their predecessors. Some of the truly great works have explicitly (through content or structure or character) had to kill off the Bard.

Heck, one of my favorite plays is, "Rosencranz and Guildenstern are dead," which very clearly is killing off Shakespeare's characters.

Not to say there isn't some truth in the article, but that the author seems to mistakenly believe that software is totally different than anything else humanity has dealt with before. It's not completely true.

For the good of software, software must die

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