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From: William Clodius <wclodius@lanl.gov>
Subject: Re: Fortran or Ada?
Date: 1998/10/02
Date: 1998-10-02T00:00:00+00:00	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <36156677.7566@lanl.gov> (raw)
In-Reply-To: 19981002.190123.114@yktvmv.watson.ibm.com

jbs@yktvmv.watson.ibm.com wrote:
> <snip>
>          The report I have says nothing like this.  What report are
> you referring to?
>                         James B. Shearer

Robert Eachus's comments are "mostly" inferable from the report. He is
correct that the report says (in equivalent words) that "the stack was
destroyed when the engine deflection exceeded the physical stress limits
of the stack (booster and payload)." He is also correct that this
implies that the software did not properly check that such an engine
deflection was safe at that thrust. I suspect that he infers from
presummed best practices that the software would make such a check, and
that it failed because the physical parameters were wrong, and that the
most likely reason that they were wrong was because the Ariane 4
parameters were used. However, the number of steps used in that
inference are long and while the individual steps are plausible
collectively they are less plausible. Further, whether any other system
malfunction could have caused the software to command that that
deflection is unknown.

But he is correct that reusing software, without examining the
differences in the systems where the software is reused, and how those
differences might change the software's requirements, is a recipe for
disaster in any language.

-- 

William B. Clodius		Phone: (505)-665-9370
Los Alamos Nat. Lab., NIS-2     FAX: (505)-667-3815
PO Box 1663, MS-C323    	Group office: (505)-667-5776
Los Alamos, NM 87545            Email: wclodius@lanl.gov




  reply	other threads:[~1998-10-02  0:00 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 96+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
     [not found] <36068E73.F0398C54@meca.polymtl.ca>
1998-09-22  0:00 ` Fortran or Ada? Gisle S{lensminde
1998-09-22  0:00   ` Jeff Templon
1998-09-22  0:00     ` Rakesh Malhotra
1998-09-22  0:00     ` Corey Minyard
1998-09-22  0:00     ` Larry Kilgallen
1998-09-22  0:00     ` dewarr
1998-09-23  0:00       ` Jeff Templon
1998-09-23  0:00         ` Corey Minyard
1998-09-24  0:00           ` Joel Seidman
1998-09-24  0:00           ` Craig Burley
1998-09-25  0:00             ` dewarr
1998-09-25  0:00               ` Jonathan Guthrie
1998-09-26  0:00               ` Craig Burley
1998-09-26  0:00                 ` dewarr
1998-09-26  0:00                   ` Craig Burley
1998-09-26  0:00                   ` Robert B. Love 
1998-09-24  0:00         ` Marc A. Criley
1998-09-24  0:00           ` dewarr
1998-09-24  0:00             ` Robert I. Eachus
1998-09-24  0:00               ` William Clodius
1998-09-25  0:00                 ` dewarr
1998-09-25  0:00               ` dewarr
1998-09-25  0:00                 ` Robert I. Eachus
1998-09-25  0:00                   ` dewarr
1998-09-25  0:00             ` jbs
1998-09-26  0:00               ` dewarr
1998-09-28  0:00                 ` jbs
1998-09-29  0:00                   ` William B. Clodius
1998-09-30  0:00                     ` jbs
1998-09-30  0:00                       ` William Clodius
1998-09-30  0:00                       ` dewarr
1998-09-30  0:00                         ` jbs
1998-09-30  0:00                           ` William Clodius
1998-10-03  0:00                       ` Niklas Holsti
1998-10-03  0:00                         ` Toon Moene
1998-10-03  0:00                           ` Niklas Holsti
1998-10-03  0:00                             ` Toon Moene
1998-10-04  0:00                               ` Niklas Holsti
1998-10-05  0:00                                 ` Michel OLAGNON
1998-10-05  0:00                                   ` Ian St. John
1998-10-05  0:00                                     ` Richard D Riehle
1998-10-05  0:00                                       ` dewarr
1998-10-05  0:00                                     ` dewarr
1998-10-05  0:00                                       ` Ian St. John
1998-10-06  0:00                                         ` dewarr
1998-10-06  0:00                                           ` Toon Moene
1998-10-06  0:00                                             ` Jonathan Guthrie
1998-10-06  0:00                                           ` Ian St. John
1998-10-08  0:00                                             ` Gary L. Scott
1998-10-08  0:00                                             ` Offtopic Airport Diversion (Was: Fortran or Ada?) Harold Stevens ** PLEASE SEE SIG **
1998-10-08  0:00                                               ` Ian St. John
1998-10-06  0:00                                           ` Fortran or Ada? James Giles
1998-10-06  0:00                                             ` Mark A Biggar
1998-10-06  0:00                                               ` James Giles
1998-10-07  0:00                                                 ` dewarr
1998-10-07  0:00                                             ` dewarr
1998-10-06  0:00                                     ` Michel OLAGNON
1998-10-07  0:00                                       ` Ian St. John
1998-09-29  0:00                   ` Dean F. Sutherland
1998-09-29  0:00                   ` Dean F. Sutherland
1998-09-29  0:00                   ` Dean F. Sutherland
1998-09-29  0:00                   ` Gautier.DeMontmollin
1998-10-02  0:00                   ` Geoff Bull
1998-10-02  0:00                   ` Robert I. Eachus
1998-10-02  0:00                     ` jbs
1998-10-02  0:00                       ` William Clodius [this message]
1998-10-03  0:00                         ` jbs
1998-10-03  0:00                           ` Larry Elmore
1998-10-06  0:00                           ` Robert I. Eachus
1998-10-06  0:00                             ` Pat Rogers
1998-09-24  0:00           ` Jeff Templon
1998-09-25  0:00             ` Dale Stanbrough
1998-09-30  0:00               ` Daniel Barker
1998-09-30  0:00                 ` Lawrence Kirby
1998-10-01  0:00                   ` Aaron Crane
1998-10-02  0:00                 ` Fortran or Ada or gobbledygook? Wes Groleau
1998-10-05  0:00                 ` Fortran or Ada? Terry Devine
1998-09-25  0:00             ` dewarr
     [not found]           ` <6udre0$ha1$1@nnrp1.dejane <6utg60$h6l$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com>
1998-10-01  0:00             ` robin_v
1998-09-23  0:00     ` Frank Ecke
1998-09-23  0:00   ` bglbv
1998-09-23  0:00     ` Robert I. Eachus
1998-09-24  0:00       ` Richard D Riehle
1998-09-23  0:00 Marin David Condic, 561.796.8997, M/S 731-96
1998-09-23  0:00 ` Gisle S{lensminde
1998-09-24  0:00   ` John McCabe
1998-09-24  0:00     ` Gisle S{lensminde
1998-09-24  0:00     ` Dean F. Sutherland
1998-09-24  0:00 ` Samuel T. Harris
  -- strict thread matches above, loose matches on Subject: below --
1998-09-23  0:00 Marin David Condic, 561.796.8997, M/S 731-96
1998-09-24  0:00 Walt Brainerd
1998-09-25  0:00 ` Robert I. Eachus
1998-09-25  0:00 ` dewarr
1998-10-05  0:00 Robert I. Eachus
1998-10-05  0:00 robin
1998-10-05  0:00 Condic, Marin D.
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