But, Mark, a diverse "ecosystem" does not have bears and fish in the same cave. These silly analogies are just a way of avoiding talk about the real thing. Ted does that all the time, substitutes wacky philosophy for engineering and process discussions.
Also, Mark, a chair, a bear, and a piece of software have different relationships a la Darwin. Chairs and software are not natural entities. Suggesting that Darwin will decide is cute, but, as you acknowledge, silly. Good for speechifying, but bad for logic. On 3/18/06, Mark Lowe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Ted's central principle that "darwin decides" is > a sound one. Its sound because it's also a principle that doesn't > state that struts or anything is good because its better or because he > influenced a group of people to act in a certain way, but because a > technology survives the ecological pressures of the economy and > projects that adopt such a approach remain profitable. > ........................ > I could carry on, but I wont.. What the main point is that it doesn't > really matter what anyone thinks of this and that. What will survive > will survive (excuse the tautology). Ferrari survives as does ford > (albeit from selling the financial products to buy their goods) they > occupy different niches. In the case of betamax and vhs only one > survived because they occupy the same niche. All any of us can do is > try and knock out projects as best and as cheaply as possible, and > darwin will decide the rest. Central to a good ecosystem is diversity. > > -- "You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it float on its back." ~Dakota Jack~
