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by hampereddustbin 1472 days ago
At times like these I'm reminded of the phrase “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe”

You have to rely on something in life, just like in an office building you can't realistically check the structure inside-out, or if you can, how can you make sure that the individual components are actually of the material they say they are? Have you double-checked your local water table yourself? Have you done geological studies to uncover vulnerabilities the subcontracting firm building the office may not have done correctly? What is the effect of local radio-interference or power quality on your equipment? Are your UPS-devices actually performing to spec?

1 comments

> At times like these I'm reminded of the phrase “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe”

Sure, but it may also be a comparison between grandma's apple pie and the apple pie from the supermarket. If you never looked at the ingredient list of the latter, you're bound to be surprised at what you're getting. If grandma hand picked her apples from the back yard, you may be unhappy to learn about the pesticides used for commercially grown apples.

> You have to rely on something in life, just like in an office building you can't realistically check the structure inside-out, or if you can, how can you make sure that the individual components are actually of the material they say they are?

In that case, there are building codes as well as checks to ensure they are followed. While it is possible for someone to ignore those codes, there is also a cost for doing so if you are caught. For the most part, the software industry doesn't have building codes. If something fails, software licenses are generally written to avoid accountability. About the only constraint is the negative response of the market, but even that can be managed to some degree.