Thread: Why is commercial software so crap?

  1. #16
    Programming Wraith GReaper's Avatar
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    OMG! What was inside? The whole english literature?!

    EDIT: By the way, it makes sense that none editor could help you because none was built to be able to deal with more data than the RAM could hold! ( Although Windows make it easy through its file format )
    Last edited by GReaper; 02-21-2011 at 01:48 PM.
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  2. #17
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    The whole English Wikipedia, without images, audio, etc.

  3. #18
    Programming Wraith GReaper's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cyberfish View Post
    The whole English Wikipedia, without images, audio, etc.
    Oh, i was close!
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    Sipher, I have 4 GB of RAM and I'm only asking to load 41 MB. 1/100th the capacity. You'd think there was a suitable editor. It's not like I'm asking for something intelligent that can page things properly.

  5. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by nonoob View Post
    I did in no way indent to malign 3rd party commercial software companies outside of Microsoft.
    But you mean to Microsoft. Which really isn't much different from everything I've been hearing for the past 20 years... Let me tell you software development in general is crap. After a few minutes you will have trouble naming good quality software if you start listing names. But you can go on for a very long time if you start naming bad ones. And this is no different with open source software.

    Yes, open source has a place in this discussion. Because you just don't go around sticking the word "commercial" to such a statement, without that immediately implying a counterpoint. Unfortunately however, open source software can be as bad, as crappy, as bug ridden as commercial software. With one aggravation: It has been institutionalized this amazing notion that if you use open source software and a bug plagues you, it's your damn fault and no one else's. Fix it yourself or shut up. Now, that's not the type of contract you want to sign if a) you aren't a technical person, b) you don't have time to go around other people's mess, or c) you actually want to use software to be productive.

    Notepad bug is no different than a lot of bugs plaguing all types of software, commercial or open source. It's not even particularly bad because it doesn't damage your data and the workaround is actually very easy: use something else. There's plenty to choose from and notepad is pretty much ignored these days by about everyone. I do agree however that after so many years, this doesn't look good in anyone's sheet. But let's talk about buggy software...
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  6. #21
    Registered User VirtualAce's Avatar
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    Now all the apologists can please tell me why this editor, supposedly much more "professional" than NOTEPAD, is similarly useless for editing large files. Again I would conjecture that this program has not been touched by people who attended 2nd semester computer class.
    Perhaps you would like to try your hand at writing an editor that addresses these issues...yet has as much or more functionality than the ones you dislike?

  7. #22
    Programming Wraith GReaper's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nonoob View Post
    Sipher, I have 4 GB of RAM and I'm only asking to load 41 MB. 1/100th the capacity. You'd think there was a suitable editor. It's not like I'm asking for something intelligent that can page things properly.
    I was talking to cyberfish and his 15G text file. Anyways, commercial some time suck, free usually suck. That happens because the customers pay to get a better piece of software. There are of course always exceptions...
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  8. #23
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    Actually Sipher the reason so much software massively sucks these days is that the bulk of it is designed on a deadline, by multiple programmers under very real pressure, using RAD tools that are often far from optimal.

    The *craft* of programming is long dead... it's now a production line task.

  9. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by CommonTater View Post
    Actually Sipher the reason so much software massively sucks these days is that the bulk of it is designed on a deadline, by multiple programmers under very real pressure, using RAD tools that are often far from optimal.

    The *craft* of programming is long dead... it's now a production line task.
    Probably!
    Hey, but wouldn't that make freeware better? No free software has a deadline!
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  10. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sipher View Post
    Probably!
    Hey, but wouldn't that make freeware better? No free software has a deadline!
    Logically correct... but this isn't a logial planet...

    I would surmise the problem there might be the lack of training and overall skill. I, for one, am self-educated in programming, working from personal interest, and tend to struggle through things as I need to know them... I don't think that's unusual amongst hobbiests who often don't have the benefits of traning and peer review.

  11. #26
    Officially An Architect brewbuck's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CommonTater View Post
    Actually Sipher the reason so much software massively sucks these days is that the bulk of it is designed on a deadline, by multiple programmers under very real pressure, using RAD tools that are often far from optimal.
    It's really a matter of "you see what you look for." By definition all the software that doesn't crash or attract your attention in other ways, will go unnoticed. Except when it's absent, then you'll notice what's missing, not what's there.
    Code:
    //try
    //{
    	if (a) do { f( b); } while(1);
    	else   do { f(!b); } while(1);
    //}

  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by brewbuck View Post
    It's really a matter of "you see what you look for." By definition all the software that doesn't crash or attract your attention in other ways, will go unnoticed. Except when it's absent, then you'll notice what's missing, not what's there.
    Excellent observation!

    There's an old saw in retail: "Never tick off the custmer; a happy customer might tell his best friend, an unhappy customer will tell anyone who will listen." (Apparently I can't say ........ here... LOL)

    But it is also true there seems to be an ever growing pile of crappy software out there and it's origins are sometimes a bit mysterious...

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