Here are a few articles I recently posted on the Silver
Bullet discussion group. Join the group to participate. The articles
are listed in last-one-first order.
September 12, 2004 2:06 PM
Paul,
Your criticism of my methods is unwarranted, in my opinion, because I think you've got the donkey by the tail. I am not the one who insulted the folks at NASA and the FAA. They are the ones who insulted me a little over two years ago. I was very courteous when I first approached them. Civility did not work then and will not work now. The not-invented-here syndrome is endemic in most organizations. I am willing to live with that.
So now, I am no longer attempting to reach them. That was my first mistake. So please don't frame your arguments on that basis. The FAA and NASA are not the universe. There are many private organizations in the world for whom software reliability is of the utmost importance.
My current strategy is to promote the Silver Bullet solution the best I can, by making a lot of noise
wherever and whenever I can. I do it by alerting the greater public that there is indeed a solution. And I think it's
beginning to work. In the last week or so, several corporations and organizations from around the world (big financial institutions, banks, stock exchanges, communication firms, universities, etc...) have taken an acute interest in my work on software reliability.
These folks don't have stupid political and career issues to hold them back. They are looking for a solution for a very costly problem. They have pressing needs that must be met. (Just recently, I read somewhere that Toshiba had to pay several billion dollars to settle a class-action lawsuit. Why? Because of software defects in one of their products.) They have listened to the experts for way too long and the problem has not gone away. It's getting worse. It has come to the point where their software
infrastructure has grown so complex and fragile that most will not dare update or modify it for fear of introducing costly defects.
As far as presenting my arguments in a rational manner is concerned, let me say that this is precisely what I try to do on the Silver Bullet page. I try to be as clear and precise as I can. Again, it is not rocket science. I get emails from young teenage programmers who have no trouble grasping it.
In the meantime, I think I will have some fun at the expense of the big guys and gals at the FAA and NASA. They need to learn who they work for.
Best regards,
Louis Savain
September 12, 2004 8:35 AM
Paul,
All I can say to you at this point is this: The real
message is not what I write on this group or in the Silver Bullet News
page but the Silver Bullet article and the COSA pages on my site. If all
that you (NASA, the FAA, CyLab and others) can see are the filthy
garments of the messenger, then you do not deserve the message.
I can't believe you are homing in on my arrogance and defects of
character (who set you up as my judge?) when the real arrogance is that
of NASA, the FAA and others. In the meantime, the public is paying for
it all. They (the public) have a right to be arrogant and cop an
attitude because it's their hard-earned money that is being spent
unwisely by those government agencies.
Best regards,
Louis Savain
PS. I am not asking for either NASA or the FAA or CyLab to give me a
penny. They do not need me. They can implement a COSA OS on their own. I
provide all the needed info, free of charge. I just want to see this
problem fixed because it is getting to be a very costly and dangerous
problem. And BTW, if they cannot go past my Jesus complex, as you say,
they can go pack sand, as far as I'm concerned. How's that for an
attitude?
September 12, 2004 7:53 AM
Paul,
Thanks for your thoughts and constructive criticism. There is only one reason that, lately, I decided to pull out the big guns, so to
speak. When I contacted the FAA and NASA (and several other organizations) several years ago, I was very courteous and polite
almost to the point of being obsequious. They slammed the doors in my face. Hard.
Recently, I decided to use a different strategy. I will no longer approach these people like a beggar. I will not write nice and
courteous letters to them just so they can slam more doors in my face. I will not approach them at all. I will take the battle to the
public arena.
I know what they've got on their hands: a big nasty problem that is hurting them real bad, a problem that is getting worse everyday and
will not go away. And I know what I got, the solution. Sooner or later they will have to consider what I am saying because there is
only one solution to the problem, the one I am offering. This may sound arrogant, but it is true. All bureaucrats are politicians. They
are afraid of public opinion. They are afraid of the people who give them money.
You mentioned that I don't have any proof that my solution is correct. I don't think I need one. No hypothesis needs a proof. All
it needs is a solid premise and falsifiable predictions. NASA and the FAA have enough resources to at least examine the hypothesis to see
if it is worthwhile. They dismissed it out of hand.
Now will Cylab do the same thing? Probably. I know that they've downloaded all the Silver Bullet and COSA pages from my site last
week. CyLab has a vested interest in not finding a final solution to the problem. Why? Because if they find one, there is no longer a need
for their existence and the money tit will dry out. This is the real reason that these folks have for slamming their doors in my face.
It's funny, in a way, but I am not amused.
Still, the proof is there for everyone to see in the form of highly
complex (yet reliable) behaving systems: brains and integrated circuits. Highly reliable synchronous reactive software systems
already exist (VHDL is an example). So it is not as if I am making this up. It's just that, synchronous programming should become the
norm rather than the exception.
You are probably thinking that I should provide a proof in the form of a working operating system based on COSA. Well, no working OS will
constitute proof. Why? because this is the nature of the reliability problem. Actual existence proof will come only when this new paradigm
is adopted by a large part of the industry, say, by a major financial organization. Only then will they notice the reliability and
productivity benefits.
I am not asking for the COSA model to be adopted on blind faith, mind you. I do make plausible and well reasoned arguments in the Silver
Bullet article. Anybody who is unbiased (no vested interest) and is willing to take a look, will have to agree that this is, in fact, the
solution. It really is not all that hard, One does not need to be a rocket scientist to understand it.
The reliability problem reminds me of a scene in an 80s Hollywood movie called "War Games." The protagonists were at their wit's end
trying to prevent a global-thermal-nuclear catastrophe. The hacker kid (played by Mathew Broderick) proposed to play tic-tac-toe with
the computer, a weird idea, to say the least. But the general said "Why not? Heck, I'll piss on a spark plug if it'll do any good."
In my opinion, the reliability crisis is getting to the point where
something has to be done about it and quick. Otherwise, major disasters may be triggered as a result. So this is part of my
strategy. I am waiting for them to come to the point where they feel like pissing on a spark plug to get the problem to go away. It won't
be long now.
Best Regards,
Louis Savain
