Languages, is popularity dominating engineering?

Hi Ed,

[not sure of the actual attributions, here...]

On 1/4/2015 2:22 PM, Ed Prochak wrote:
> On Saturday, December 27, 2014 12:28:24 AM UTC-5, Paul Rubin wrote:

>   I think a good case can be made that just parts availability will
>   increase risk of staying with that hardware over the costs of
>   certificating new hardware and software.
> Otherwise, I hope they have a large stock of spares!

Yes.  I know people who make an obscene amount of money selling
what you or I would consider SCRAP (antique hardware) to folks like
this.  They're in a bind and have no other recourse but to keep buying
up decommissioned kit and HOPING they can retain the expertise to
keep it running.

You would be astonished at how commonplace this is!  It's not just gummit
types with their long lead-times before they can make up their mind and
decide what they want, then actually *purchase* it (when I toured the
Cheyenne Mountain Complex in the late 70's, the technology they were
installing had been spec'd and purchased in the *60's*).

Penny-pinching, politics, fear of "making a decision", etc. plague all
sorts of institutions!

[One of the HUGE advantages of working for oneself is that it's YOUR
money so you only have to justify the expense to YOURSELF!  And, as it
typically directly affects YOUR time/effort, that decision is a lot easier
to make...]

> Whether the higher ups agree is another question, but I would
> consider it my responsibility to present the alternatives.