"David T. Lewis" lewis@mail.msen.com wrote:
On Sun, Dec 01, 2002 at 09:02:54PM -0800, Tim Rowledge wrote:
Until recently it has been possible to argue against standard parts in software because computers were too slow to make anything other than minutely tweaked code to do any useful job. I rather think that that
Personally I don't think the absence of a "parts" industry in software has much to do with computer speed etc. I think Brad Cox idea about this problem is correct:
Search down to "ATOMS VERSUS BITS" on: http://virtualschool.edu/cox/pub/97IEEE/
I haven't read much of Brad's work but this part has stuck with me - the absence of mass in software strikes me as a fundamental difference compared to the rest of the industry.
On the other hand I don't think Brad's "proposed solutions" like his ideas on micropayments etc are any good. But that doesn't stop his analysis of he problem from being correct. :-)
regards, Göran
PS. I discussed this in part, especially regarding the "death" of the software tools market, with David Simmons at OOPSLA over a few beers but we didn't really have the same views.