B5000 and ``Second System Effect''

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2 total messages Started by jo... John Shipman Tue, 04 Sep 1990 23:24

#4377

Author: jo... John Shipman
Date: Tue, 04 Sep 1990 23:24

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I heard a story once about the development of the Burroughs
B5000, and I was hoping that someone here could confirm or
deny its authenticity.

Rumor has it that at a certain point in the development of
the system software for this machine (in the early 1960's),
a manager came in one night and destroyed all the copies of
the specifications and software, including backups.  He did
this deliberately in order to encourage the so-called
``second system effect,'' so that the software developers
would keep the parts of the design that were done right,
yet have a chance to re-do the klugey parts correctly.

Is this actually true?  Were any of you readers there then?
-- 
John Shipman/Zoological Data Processing/Socorro, NM/jo...@jupiter.nmt.edu
``Let's go outside and commiserate with nature.''  --Dave Farber

Re: B5000 and ``Second System Effect''

#4378

Author: aus... Matt Austern
Date: Wed, 05 Sep 1990 00:04

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In article <1990Sep4.2...@nmt.edu>, john@nmt (John Shipman) writes:
>Rumor has it that at a certain point in the development of
>the system software for this machine (in the early 1960's),
>a manager came in one night and destroyed all the copies of
>the specifications and software, including backups.  He did
>this deliberately in order to encourage the so-called
>``second system effect,'' so that the software developers
>would keep the parts of the design that were done right,
>yet have a chance to re-do the klugey parts correctly.

I don't know whether or not this story is true; however, if the phrase
"second system effect" is used here the same way as in THE MYTHICAL
MAN-MONTH, it is not something a manager would want to encourage.

In that book, the "second system effect" refers to the tendency that a
software designer working on his or her second major project will put
in all of the cute ideas that didn't quite fit into the first.  Such
second projects, supposedly, tend to turn into monstrosities.
-- 
+-----------------+---------------------+---------------------------------+
| Matthew Austern | austern@lbl.bitnet  | I don't use pens.  I write with |
| (415) 644-2618  | aus...@ux5.lbl.gov | a goose quill dipped in venom.  |
+-----------------+---------------------+---------------------------------+

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