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From: Nate Williams <nate@mt.sri.com>
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To: Terry Lambert <terry@lambert.org>
Cc: nate@mt.sri.com (Nate Williams), proff@suburbia.net, hackers@freebsd.org
Subject: Re: Internal clock
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> > > Code shouldn't need a hell of a lot of maintenance, if the interfaces
> > > for plugging the code in are fairly static and well enough designed
> > > that they can remain that way.
> > 
> > Yeah, right.  If that were the case, you and I wouldn't be paid the big
> > bucks to be software engineers, since any poor schmuck off the street
> > could do our job.
> 
> And your point is that we are somehow superior to the average schmuck
> because we write code that needs a lot of maintenance?  8-).

*laugh*

Software 'engineering' is something I spent significant time studying,
and no matter how good you are maintenance makes up 90% of the 'time'
spent on code for most projects.  One could argue that the entire
FreeBSD project is doing 'maintenance' on the CSRG code tree.

> Really, the issue is one of designing good kernel interfaces, not the
> software that plugs into them.

Really, the issue of putting a man on Mars is designing a good space
ship, not actually building the darn ship.



Nate