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=0.6 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,TO_NO_BRKTS_FROM_MSSP autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,2def9aa85afa5d22 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-11-05 07:31:10 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!news-hog.berkeley.edu!ucberkeley!nntp-relay.ihug.net!ihug.co.nz!out.nntp.be!propagator-SanJose!in.nntp.be!news-in-sanjose!newsranger.com!www.newsranger.com!not-for-mail Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada From: Ted Dennison References: <3BDCE159.39F6D422@adaworks.com> <11bf7180.0110290311.4d8d6f04@posting.google.com> <3BDF9C6A.C25520C5@adaworks.com> <3BE023AB.8F235EF5@sparc01.ftw.rsc.raytheon.com> <9rp8mo$6d8$1@nh.pace.co.uk> <9rrmvl$98d$1@nh.pace.co.uk> <3BE4221B.34589071@adaworks.com> <3BE43CDC.F6B1EE30@acm.org> Subject: Re: Joint Strike Fighter Message-ID: X-Abuse-Info: When contacting newsranger.com regarding abuse please X-Abuse-Info: forward the entire news article including headers or X-Abuse-Info: else we will not be able to process your request X-Complaints-To: abuse@newsranger.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 05 Nov 2001 10:30:28 EST Organization: http://www.newsranger.com Date: Mon, 05 Nov 2001 15:30:28 GMT Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:15812 Date: 2001-11-05T15:30:28+00:00 List-Id: In article <3BE43CDC.F6B1EE30@acm.org>, Jeffrey Carter says... >While I usually hesitate to ascribe to malice what may be due to >incompetence, this effect is so widespread that I have to wonder. I note >that only established large defense contractors can successfully bid on >large defense contracts, and those contractors have many decades of >experience with the government's understanding of software quality and >its reaction to cost and schedule overruns. The contractors exist to >make money, and the contracts are usually arranged so that the longer >the contract takes, the more money the contractor makes. It may even be For a while back when I worked for LMCO, the philosophy I heard floating around was "Price to win, work to cost." This basicly meant that the only real consideration in a bid was if it was low enough to win the contract. You will then essentially have engineering work until the money runs out and either the project is delivered, or you can no longer convince the agency to cough up more money. Making short-sighted budget decisions or whipping engineering are useful ways to convice the contracting agency that positive steps are being taken, and thus the end is in sight, if only a bit more money is provided. This is sort of a long-winded way of saying that it is in fact stupidity at work here. But its a sort of systemic stupidity that one could reasonably mistake with malice. What this has to do with Ada, I don't know. I suspect that's just a different manifestation of stupidity (or more accurately, ignorance). --- T.E.D. homepage - http://www.telepath.com/dennison/Ted/TED.html No trees were killed in the sending of this message. However a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.