Here's the problem, as I see it:
You write a perfectly decent solution to a software problem, but the
language and runtime you choose is superseded by the manufacturer, vendor
or community.
What should you do?
What is software, what is a problem? That has to be defined first.
Some kinds of software (and hardware) are as ephemeral the color palette
that the French designers have already forced on clothing buyers for the
2014 spring season. You know what? I don't think that's a "problem" in any
meaningful sense of the word. If you are the kind of person who can't
survive without the latest color, or fashion, or phone, then you deserve
what you get. Go ahead and blow your disposable income on that crap if you
like.
Other kinds of software (and hardware) are as basic, and enduring in their
purpose, as a block and tackle, a gear, or a lever, and need to be changed
as much as those tools do. Word processing, spreadsheets, email: these fall
into this category. I should not be forced to replace them, ever, unless I
personally want them to do something else that they do not already do. (And
by "do not already do", I do not mean, "work on my current hardware and OS".)
The overriding problem is that it is in the profitable interest of computer
hardware and software producers to try to convince everybody that these
fundamental differences do not exist, and that everybody has to buy new
stuff every 12-to-18 months for everything.
This is bogus. The first problem is to separate truth from marketing.
When we do that, these other questions get a whole lot easier to answer.
Here's one:
Why isn't a 4-bit int a 4-bit int no matter how much bandwidth the OS
offers? Why shouldn't software that uses 4-bit ints work just as well on an
8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, or 64-bit OS, without any messing around with
"adapters" or "VMs" or anything else?
Here's another one:
Why shouldn't OS designers assume that 20 years from now everybody will
want a 512-bit-wide pipe, and build it into the OS RIGHT NOW, so people
don't have to "upgrade" when the 512-bit software arrives?
Ken Dibble
www.stic-cil.org
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