Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site pucc-h
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!seismo!harpo!eagle!mhuxl!houxm!ihnp4!inuxc!pur-ee!CS-Mordred!Pucc-H:aeq
From: Pucc-H:aeq@CS-Mordred.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Do: Re: Mi: BTL takes the lead
Message-ID: <368@pucc-h>
Date: Fri, 18-Nov-83 09:48:58 EST
Article-I.D.: pucc-h.368
Posted: Fri Nov 18 09:48:58 1983
Date-Received: Sun, 20-Nov-83 01:06:28 EST
References: <388@ihuxq.UUCP>
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center
Lines: 17

>WW III will not
>be started by a computer with delusions of godhood; it may be started
>because deep in the guts of some very critical code, some programmer forgot
>to add a "1", or left out a case entirely.  Haven't you?

This couldn't help but remind me of something I read in Comm. ACM not many
years ago.  I think it was the Turing Award lecture; and I believe it was
given by C.A.R. Hoare.  In his lecture, he said that Ada was so complicated
and messy (quite contrary to its original design objectives, but what do you
expect out of the DoD?) that it was thoroughly unsafe to use for critical
applications like defense systems, nuclear reactors, etc.--exactly where it
is intended to be used.  He urged that everything possible be done to stop
the use of Ada, lest the world crash along with the operating system.

-- Jeff Sargent/...pur-ee!pucc-h:aeq
(not sure on that path address--we just converted to 4.1c, and we can't use
UUCP mail the way we did on 4.1 [but that's not my bailiwick to fix])