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0 pointssmackfu12y ago0 comments

The easier it is to update software, the less important that it is bug-free.

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10 comments · 2 top-level

npizzolato12y ago· 8 in thread

Until that bug causes a car to drive unexpectedly into a wall in the interim time until you've sent out a patch. The importance of being bug-free is much more driven by the potential damage caused by a bug than how quickly you can update the software.

zobzu12y ago

do you think that the gasoline cars don't have software updates? their engine is nowadays all software controlled and theres a fw update plug, generally under your driving wheel.

and they'll update it when they service the car. how is that software any safer than the OTA?

its not.

npizzolato12y ago

I never said that. I was responding to "The easier it is to update software, the less important that it is bug-free."

GenerocUsername12y ago

Fear monger. What if what if what if... I'm not saying it couldn't happen, I'm just saying that possible new issues are no reason to persist the old issues

sukuriant12y ago

No. It's a car, and has the power to kill people on software malfunction, making it a critical system. Critical systems are tend to go through a much greater and more robust form of testing.

stcredzero12y ago

The destructive potential of a car exceeds that of a lot of handguns one can buy.

There have long been techniques for writing software as formal proofs of correctness. As far as I can tell, they haven't been popular with mainstream programmers because they are simply too different.

1 more reply

throwaway204812y ago

This is utter nonsense, "possible new issues" are every reason to carefully evaluate and weight new options.

Fomite12y ago

No, but "Cars do uncomfortable things at high velocity" is not exactly an edge case.

sliverstorm12y ago

Right. So, what happens when you are the one in that car, the car that teaches them better?

MartinCron12y ago

I would say that the easier it is to update software, the more likely it is to be bug free.

It's easier to test one change in isolation than to try to figure out which of these 20/200/2000 commits broke things.

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