From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,CP1252 X-Google-Thread: 103376,f039470e8f537101 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2003-07-22 09:35:18 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!arclight.uoregon.edu!wn13feed!wn12feed!worldnet.att.net!204.127.198.203!attbi_feed3!attbi_feed4!attbi.com!sccrnsc02.POSTED!not-for-mail Message-ID: <3F1D67AC.2000601@attbi.com> From: "Robert I. Eachus" User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.0.2) Gecko/20021120 Netscape/7.01 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Ariane5 FAQ References: <1058799152.775376@master.nyc.kbcfp.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit NNTP-Posting-Host: 66.31.71.243 X-Complaints-To: abuse@comcast.net X-Trace: sccrnsc02 1058891716 66.31.71.243 (Tue, 22 Jul 2003 16:35:16 GMT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 16:35:16 GMT Organization: Comcast Online Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 16:35:16 GMT Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:40650 Date: 2003-07-22T16:35:16+00:00 List-Id: Hyman Rosen wrote: > So it seems to me that you would rather believe that project managers > could be complete morons rather than believe that Ada programmers could > fail to properly document their code. I know which I think is more likely, > but feel free to believe as you like. It's a free country. Both are possible. But in this case, the (Ariane 4) Ada programmers not only documented their code correctly, they raised the issue of whether or not this was the correct behavior for this particular situation with their management, and the design engineers. So was the final decision for the Ariane 4 correct? I think so. But to indicate that it wasn't carefully thought out, or documented, is specious. As for the project managers on Ariane 5 being morons, I think that is also incorrect. The key decision that doomed Ariane 501 was a political one. (Not allowing the Ariane 4 SRI software designers access to the Ariane 5 requirements specs.) So if you want to take away the idea that politicians do not make good system engineers, I can give you dozens of other, better examples. -- Robert I. Eachus �In an ally, considerations of house, clan, planet, race are insignificant beside two prime questions, which are: 1. Can he shoot? 2. Will he aim at your enemy?� -- from the Laiden novels by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.