What makes it so hard?

Many is the time where I’ve cursed Redmond when the gremlins strike. But it struck me funny when a newbie asked if these Linux guys are idiots or something. It was such an odd statement that I couldn’t think of anything to say. This individual was not a technie by any stretch but she was comfortable working with PCs, the Internet and all.

It seems as though she’d picked up a Linux magazine that had a bit of Windows bashing inside. She picked apart an article about problems word processing in Windows and how the author solved all his problems by switching to Linux.

She thought it was pretty funny when she described another Linux expert who took 5 hours to install Windows XP. She said it takes her less than an hour and that includes the office stuff and games.

Her take on it is that these guys purposely make things harder than they are to justify their paygrade or whatever. And then she gave me one of those knowing stares…like she meant me too!

Software entropy

…the tendency for software, over time, to become difficult and costly to maintain…

…software rot…
This not describes not only software that is developed but the actual computer systems over time. That is, unless something is done to counteract the tendency!

The recommended practice for programmers is to refactor the code. Refactor mercilessly according to c2.com.

But what about the computer systems themselves? There are lessons to be learned from refactoring software that can be applied to computer systems. Think about it, like software, a computer system is a dynamic, evolving entity. Disorder is continuously introduced into the system. There has to be a process that’s performed from time to time to bring the computer system into a more consistent state.