Monoculture

[Matt Blaze]

Perry writes:
> 
> Richard Schroeppel <rcs at CS.Arizona.EDU> writes:
> (Responding to the chorus of protocol professionals saying "please do
>  not roll your own")
> > I imagine the Plumbers & Electricians Union must have used similar
> > arguments to enclose the business to themselves, and keep out unlicensed
> > newcomers.  "No longer acceptable" indeed.  Too much competition boys?
> 
...
> 
> > Who on this list just wrote a report on the dangers of Monoculture?
> 
> I did. Dependence on a single system is indeed a problem. However, one
> must understand the nature of the problem, not diversify blindly.
> 
> Some companies are said to require that multiple high level executives
> cannot ride on the same plane flight, for fear of losing too many of
> them simultaneously. That is a way of avoiding certain kinds of
> risk. However, I know of no company that suggests that some of those
> executives fly in rickety planes that have never been safety tested
> and were built by squirrels using only pine cones. That does not reduce
> risk.
> 

Speaking of plumbers and electricians, it occurs to me that while
it would be very difficult to find pipe fittings designed without
taking into account static and dynamic analysis or electric wiring
designed without benefit of resistance or insulation breakdown tests
(basic requirements for pipes and wires that nonetheless require
fairly advanced knowledge to understand properly), equipping a house
with such materials might actually end up being safe.  The inevitable
fire might be extinguished by the equally inevitable flood.

-matt



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