> On Oct 6, 2017, at 12:08 PM, Fred Cisin via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org> > wrote: > > I have long held that while initial creation of software can benefit from > providing the programmers with the absolutel latest hardware, that at least > one significant stage of debugging and optimization should be done on the old > stuff that "the rest of us" use. If Microsoft would trade hardware with us, > and use some of our "obsolete" stuff, then they might learn to write RELIABLE > compact, efficient, and fast programs. Instead, the approach to all > performance complaints is "throw hardware at it".
Mark Crispin was a great proponent of a minor variant of this philosophy. He used to rail on about how IMAP client and server developers should be forced to develop and debug their code using 9600 baud network links. It pissed him off to no end how lazy the (then) current crop of MUA developers was, trading off the fallacy of "limitless" bandwidth against smart algorithms and a true understanding of IMAP's semantics. I have fond memories of a few late nights we had, both going on about the Kids These Days ;-) --lyndon
