software rot (../style.css) (../local.css) (Edit this page) (/ikiwiki.cgi?do=edit&page=software_rot)  (../) permacomputing /  software rot     Software rot is generally thought of as degradation of (../software/) software due to a changing environment. For example, a program written a decade ago may no longer work with new versions of the libraries it depends on because some of them have changed without retaining backwards compatibility. This kind of thinking encourages a culture where software becomes (../obsolescence/) obsolete unless it is constantly maintained. A better approach might be to talk about the reliability of the environment the software depends on. Would you build a house on a bog? It is often necessary to build on "bogs" (i.e. "actively developed" platforms), but it might be a good idea to also be compatible with a (../bedrock_platform/) bedrock platform whose specifications are static and solid. Software rot is a big issue for cultures that constantly produce new programs (such as (../games/) games or (../demoscene/) demos ) that are not supposed to be constantly maintained after release. Programs written for classical platforms (such as (../DOS/) DOS or (/ikiwiki.cgi?do=create&from=software_rot&page=NES) ? NES ) usually need no post-release maintentance at all, while those written for e.g. (/ikiwiki.cgi?do=create&from=software_rot&page=Linux) ? Linux will likely cease working in a decade or two. Sometimes, serious (/ikiwiki.cgi?do=create&from=software_rot&page=media_archeology) ? media archeology work (such as finding specific versions of old libraries) is needed to get a program to run again.   Links: (../DOS/) DOS (../all_pages/) all pages (../bedrock_platform/) bedrock platform (../concepts/) concepts (../dependency/) dependency (../file_collection/) file collection (../issues/) issues (../principles-old/) principles-old (../software/) software (../virtual_machine/) virtual machine  (../about/) About | (http://bbs.permacomputing.net) Forum | (../license/) LICENSE | (../terms/) Terms | Last edit Fri Nov 10 12:33:26 2023  | (/ikiwiki.cgi?do=edit&page=software_rot) Edit