3 Jul
2024
3 Jul
'24
3:04 p.m.
On Wed, Jul 3, 2024, 1:17 AM <sjenkin(a)canb.auug.org.au> wrote:
I’ve never heard of a Computer Science or Software
Engineering program
that included a ‘case study’ component, especially for Software
Development & Projects.
<snip>
Developers of Initial Unix arguably were 10x-100x more productive than IBM
OS/360, a ‘best practice’ development at the time,
so what CSRC did differently is worth close examination.
I’ve not seen examined the role of the ‘capability’ of individual
contributors, the collaborative, collegiate work environment
and the ‘context’, a well funded organisation not dictating deadlines or
product specifications for researchers.
<snip>
I haven't heard of such a case study either. But you reminded me of an
analogy I once read. Please forgive me if my memory is incorrect or
incomplete.
I believe I read it in the book "The Supermen", and the idea might be
attributed to Seymour Cray. The basic idea was that any technical problem
can be solved with a shovel, where the sharpness of the blade represents
the astuteness of the people working on it, and the force applied to the
handle is how much money you throw at it. A bit simplistic, perhaps, but I
think there's also a lot of truth in it.