Metaphors-Can They Create Better Software Laws? 15
"Start with this:
- Programs are like recipes.
- A shrink-wrapped software suite is like a cook-book.
- Operating systems are like kitchens.
- Digital music files are like piano rolls.
Sensing a possible loss of control, software makers are now going try the analogy of car leasing. And they will no doubt try to obscure the difference that makes leasing a bad analogy: The owner of a car (an instance of a proprietary design) has an ongoing economic interest in the state of the leased car, otherwise it would be a sale. You can destroy an instance of downloaded 'leased' software and there is absolutely zero economic impact on the 'owner.' There is nothing to be returned. Can this legitimately be called a 'lease?' I don't think so, but watch for metaphor spin ;-)
I suppose another possibility is the metaphor of program execution as performance, to tap into the kinds of control traditionally available to authors of plays and musical scores (which I don't know about, other than copyright). Of course, if you are singing emm-I-see, kay-eewhy, emmo, ew-ess, eee, then there's probably trademark rights involved (gee, I hope that was fair use ;-)"
Re:Well... (Score:1)
That was unintended, I hope? Evocative thought though, I'd say something more like an open high pressure gas bonfire type thing though... Think a bunch of oxy-acetylene torches, maybe, individually brilliant and hot, if they dance together a little bit wrong you have explosions, a stone bitch too cook a pizza with; capable of grilling a brontosaurus if properly directed.
...and I pre-emptively suggest that when the grammarians drop in and start appending the inevitable "that's a similie" notes to each response to this article, we strap them down in front of a home shopping channel until their brains explode.
Re:Well... (Score:1)
Yeah, I know where he got the metaphor. But the idea here is to get some sane laws regarding distribution. We'll be a lot better off if our metaphors match our intentions.
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I vote yes (Score:1)
So I think this an excellent idea. No wonder slashdotters didn't think so... cause I thought so. Why does it work that way?
And I agree that this is a good method for learning concepts. Check your standardized tests. They incorporate this sort of logic when they query, "Apples are to apple trees as blueberries are to what?"
Sure, it's not flawless logic, but I don't think the upper eschelon of logically thinking people is always our target audience. I've recently realized that when I talk techno babble at someone I do more harm than good if they don't know what I just said.
:)
Useful reference (Score:1)
It is a rare book in the field of software engineering. At its core is putting coding at the forefront of software engineering (what an amazing concept!) The basic concept is that you start with a metaphor and that is enough to get you started. You design just what you need to get the tasks at hand done. One example of a metaphor used in the book is when describing a pension caclulation to be "like a spreadsheet" (I know it is a simile, but close enough :) It then expands from there - as you need more detail, you drill down into the metaphor and fill in the design. The most controversial part of XP is you write tests first, then you write the code.
Overall, very impressed with the book. Even though I don't practice extreme programming (and in case you were wondering, no, it isn't like street luge in San Francisco :) I got a lot from the book. I will take the appropriate bits and add them to my arsenal.
Definitely worth a read and at sub-200 pages and easy reading style, you can cover it all in one decent sitting. And the bibliography is an absolute blast!
What about Abandonware? (Score:1)
Let's say Commodore tanked in 1994, it has been over 5 years since it tanked. Will the C64 ROM BIOS be open to the public to use in emulators, or make C64 type computers from it? Or should it stay copyrighted and nobody is able to do anything with it because some finacial company bought it from the corpse of Commodore and then sat on it?
Or will the Jihaders keep passing around the ROM and other stuff that has been abandoned by the companies that made it?
See Jihad Speak [webhostme.com] for more info.
Re:Well... (Score:1)
Robot Chefs (Score:1)
Looking foward to the day an Iron Chef is really made out of iron. A good candidate? Bender from Futurama.
Analogy for use after sale... (Score:1)
A clickwrap license is like the legally groundless boilerplate "contracts" that companies in the early to mid 1900s forced their customers to sign under duress, through fraud, or after purchase, but found out to their cost that they were utterly meaningless in a court of law, except as evidence of the company's dirty hands.
Ok, maybe it doesn't work well as an analogy, because most people don't know the history of these kinds of legal shennanegans, but it's all been done before.
Those who fail to understand history are doomed to repeat it in cyberspace.
private library (Score:1)
Well... (Score:2)
Kinda. Programs are more deterministic than recipes, but OK.
A shrink-wrapped software suite is like a cook-book.
Yes and no. A library is like a cookbook, surely. A shrink-wrapped software suite is...a recipe you pay for. No analog.
"Operating systems are like kitchens."
Kitches aren't made of recipes. Operating systems are like...holding a banquet while you cook. (running programs to make other programs)
"Digital music files are like piano rolls."
AAHHH! No! This is exactly what digital music files are NOT. Piano rolls are a manufactured product that has a cost in physical materials. Digital music files have no physical parts--they are pure information. Once you have created one music file, you can have as many copies made as you want at zero cost.
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Re:Well... (Score:2)
Source code is like a recipe. Sometimes it comes out right. Sometimes, you code fails to compile, like a bad souffle
A library is like a cookbook. Shrink-wrapped software is like those deli-party platters, and just about as edible. Or perhaps like a store-bought cake.
"Operating systems are like kitchens."
Under my new metaphor, I think an OS might again be a kitchen.
Gee. This is fun. Oh, I know: the MS Developer Toolkit (or whatever it is called) is like a 50 watt microwave that still manages to explode every potato you put into it. GCC and friends are like a 30,000 BTU convection oven that also explodes potatoes, but in a much cooler way!
Re:Metaphors should be considered harmful (Score:2)
I don't say this as a standard "kill the lawyers" gripe, but as a statement of fact. Indeed, I would not want to live somewhere where law was based on true, Lewis Carrol-style logic.
The wonder of logic is that, given enough information, it produces perfect results. The problem with logic is that, given insufficient information, it is silent. While this is fine in a math class, this is not good enough for the legal situations we place ourselves or wind up in.
Hell, we humans are good at illogic, exactly because life rarely gives us all the information in advance. BTW, this is likely a problem for AI.
Yes, the measure of truth in law is convincing a judge or jury that your argument is superior or correct. That is because we haven't found the Cosmic Truthmeter, and a judge or jury is the closest thing we can find. Don't complain unless you can find something better ;^>
More harm than good (Score:2)
The only real way to learn about and discuss some new thing in the world is to confront it directly and figure out what it really means to you and to everyone else. Using a metaphor to consider it may seem a leapfrog tool to get over the learning curve, but the danger of instilling a sort of idée fixe and being unable to see the real ramifications of the new thing is too real, and too evident from past attempts in this direction. I'd be particularly careful what metaphors you present to legistlatively powerful neophytes, because the mind pollution they can create is very hard to undo.
Metaphors should be considered harmful (Score:2)
IANAL, but I gather that reasoning by analogy is what passes for logic in the law. This only makes sense when you realize that what's important in court or the legislature is convincing the judge/jury/lawmakers that your argument is the correct one - verisimilitude rather than reality.
Re:Well... (Score:2)
AAHHH! No! This is exactly what digital music files are NOT. Piano rolls are a manufactured product that has a cost in physical materials. Digital music files have no physical parts--they are pure information.
Well, if you're not thinking too hard about the way they're distributed as opposed to how they work, it's not too bad a metaphor. A piano roll is a roll of paper with holes poked in it. When a hole passes over an opening in the little suckerbarthingy (IANAplayerpianotechnician), the piano plays a note. If you think about it this way (warning: IANAprogrammer either, obviously, but bear with the bad fake code example):
if $hole=1 {play_note}
else {nothing} #or, in other words, if $hole=0
it's not so much of a stretch. ^_^