History's Worst Software Bugs
Where you least expect them
Tuesday, November 8, 2005 by Frogboy | Discussion: WinCustomize News
Wired has a really interesting article on History's Worst Software Bugs. These bugs aren't where you would normally expect them (i.e. in PC's) but rather in serious real-world applications such as space probes, gas pipelines, etc.
NightTrainthedark
Reply #2 Tuesday, November 8, 2005 3:08 PM
Reply #2 Tuesday, November 8, 2005 3:08 PM
Thanks for the lead. Really good article. Interesting to know where "bugs" come from. Yeah, Im slow. 
kona0197
Reply #3 Tuesday, November 8, 2005 6:01 PM
Reply #3 Tuesday, November 8, 2005 6:01 PM
"The bug ultimately costs Intel $475 million."
Funny.
Funny.
GreenReaper
Reply #4 Tuesday, November 8, 2005 6:59 PM
Reply #4 Tuesday, November 8, 2005 6:59 PM
Less funny are the ones where people lost their lives, particularly the Therac-25 incident. I'd read about that before (and the more recent one with the blocking), but not the more detailed description of exactly how (and in how many ways) the Therac-25 failed. It just goes to show, software is complicated stuff - and greatly moreso nowadays than it was then. About the only people who get anywhere near close to achieving perfection are NASA, and even they have their (widely-publicised) problems.
DocX
Reply #5 Tuesday, November 8, 2005 8:09 PM
Reply #5 Tuesday, November 8, 2005 8:09 PM
Hum.. Thats pretty wild. Would be a bit scary trusting your life to computer programing..
UpsideDownGC
Reply #6 Wednesday, November 9, 2005 1:56 AM
Reply #6 Wednesday, November 9, 2005 1:56 AM
Thanks for the link, that was a pretty fun read.
scorpio-logic
Reply #7 Wednesday, November 9, 2005 2:06 AM
Reply #7 Wednesday, November 9, 2005 2:06 AM
Thanks for the link. I love reading. I drink lots of coffee and stay up weeee hours in the morning, so I need all the help I can get to busy myself. Bad thing is, aren't most coding errors just a single missing character in a string?
Cyberworld
Reply #8 Wednesday, November 9, 2005 6:07 AM
Reply #8 Wednesday, November 9, 2005 6:07 AM
Nice reading this,just shows that there is always some more work to do...
joetheblow
Reply #9 Wednesday, November 9, 2005 8:43 PM
Reply #9 Wednesday, November 9, 2005 8:43 PM
I think we 'trust' out lived to computer programming everyday... just look at cars.
All those 300C's and Magnums rolling off the factory floor with rear wheel drive?
LOL
Why do you think rear wheel drive is now the hot thing?
All those 300C's and Magnums rolling off the factory floor with rear wheel drive?
LOL
Why do you think rear wheel drive is now the hot thing?
GreenReaper
Reply #11 Friday, November 11, 2005 10:47 AM
Several thousand of them, no doubt. But let's face it: All commercial software of any non-triviality has bugs. It is a simple fact that there is never enough time to fix them all and add the new features that people demand. The trick is balancing the two by figuring out what bugs to spend the time to fix and what features to implement (and the price of the product) without people not wanting to buy your product because it is too buggy.
Reply #11 Friday, November 11, 2005 10:47 AM
| Does Windows 95 count as a software bug? |
Several thousand of them, no doubt. But let's face it: All commercial software of any non-triviality has bugs. It is a simple fact that there is never enough time to fix them all and add the new features that people demand. The trick is balancing the two by figuring out what bugs to spend the time to fix and what features to implement (and the price of the product) without people not wanting to buy your product because it is too buggy.
kona0197
Reply #12 Friday, November 11, 2005 3:07 PM
Windows 95 was more stable than Windows ME...
Reply #12 Friday, November 11, 2005 3:07 PM
| Does Windows 95 count as a software bug? |
Windows 95 was more stable than Windows ME...
Ash08
Reply #13 Saturday, November 12, 2005 3:13 AM
Definately!
Reply #13 Saturday, November 12, 2005 3:13 AM
| Does Windows 95 count as a software bug? |
Definately!
Shinigami-777
Reply #14 Monday, November 14, 2005 4:07 PM
Reply #14 Monday, November 14, 2005 4:07 PM
Yeah...had all of the Windows at one point....ME was the buggiest thing ever to curse any of my desktop PCs. 
Tominated
Reply #15 Thursday, November 17, 2005 5:36 PM
Reply #15 Thursday, November 17, 2005 5:36 PM
I hope the Therac-25 isn't the linear accellerator they are using for my radiotherapy (I had a brain tumor, it's true!)
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Reply #1 Tuesday, November 8, 2005 2:25 PM