On     Fri,    6     Jan    1995     13:37:37    -0600     Steve    Hirby
<[log in to unmask]> said:
 
>     Of course. But if something can't  be declared to be reliable, then
>it is perforce unreliable. So the design question becomes, "Do I take my
>chances?"  (on the  principle learned  from _The_Soul_of_a_New_Machine_,
>that "Not everything worth doing is worth doing well"), or do I conclude
>that the state of the art won't allow me to implement a certain feature,
>no matter  how desirable, 'cause  I can't promise  that it will  work as
>designed and intended?
>
>     To be  sure, LISTSERV  gives us  (listowners) the  choice--we don't
>have to  use auto-delete  if we  can't stand the  flack it  may generate
>and/or don't  want to  run the  risk of disappointing  some of  the very
>people we're  trying to  help. But that  doesn't change  the fundamental
>question; it just pushes it back on us.
 
You're making a long story out  of something which is really very simple.
The  problem  is that  today's  computers  are abysmally  stupid.  Unlike
humans, when  they screw  up in  a blatant way,  they don't  realize that
they're screwing up. So the computer in charge of a post office can go on
telling you that there  isn't a living soul in the  entire campus and not
realize the  enormity of  what it's saying.  The computer  processing the
reply  has no  way to  realize that  the other  computer is  screwing up,
because the number of negative replies is very small compared to the size
of the post office. The 5 errors it  is getting could be a screwup, or it
could be 5  students out of 10,000  having dropped a course.  Most of the
time, it  will be the  latter, but then sometimes  it will be  a screwup.
Given all this there are three possible courses of action:
 
1. Not use computers at all because they are not reliable.
 
2. Try to use computers anyway with a supervising human in charge.
 
3. Step on the closest soapbox and argue #1 and #2 to death.
 
You will  find a  lot of  supporters no matter  which option  you select.
LISTSERV gives  you a choice  between #1 and  #2, and the  opportunity to
create your own mailing list to discuss #3. What else do you want? :-)
 
  Eric