Re: F-22 ADA Programming

["Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de>]

On Wed, 29 Oct 2014 22:40:58 +0100, Georg Bauhaus wrote:

> On 29.10.14 21:43, Dmitry A. Kazakov wrote:
>> E.g. if
>> programmers refused to work on a new aircraft there would be none and the
>> country could become defenseless.
> 
> There is a premiss not mentioned in this, which if mentioned,
> would depict Mahatma Gandhi as an amoral person.

He possibly was. But I wrote about evidently criminal orders, which justify
actions like public disobedience. Using C++ is not criminal, not even
amoral. It is only stupid. Stupidity is not a crime.

The hidden point was that the theory of small deeds is all wrong. You
cannot rely on humans acting morally, e.g. choosing Ada being under
economical, social and other pressures to choose C++. It would not work.
And it is not engineering, which in essence is about making things *less*
dependent on human decisions, in particular, putting moral out of the
equation.

> The premiss
> is that a people, in order to be free, needs staffed and
> unstaffed flying weapons, or, generalizing, people all need to
> carry and use guns, knives, pepper spray, tasers, etc.)

Maybe true, but this is a difficult question of balance.

> Considering northern Mesopotamia, many agree at this time,
> even outside the USA, but aircraft does not seem to be the
> most effective defense right now.

Actually it is. The problem is how the weapon applied. There are
constraints put by politicians which prevent its effective usage, or
sometimes any meaningful usage. Military under democracy is meant to be
ineffective, beginning with Athens expedition to Syracuse and on...

> Considering India, many once disagreed.
> Is there a single conclusion to be drawn?

Considering what followed, split of the country, religious war, millions of
dead and refugees, the conflict that keeps on going for a half of century,
maybe India would be better off without this...

-- 
Regards,
Dmitry A. Kazakov
http://www.dmitry-kazakov.de