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Potential Dangers
A
Weapon of Knowledge-enabled Mass Destruction:
"The basic raw material to do things with these technologies is
information and knowledge, basically software. It's not secret stuff. In the
information age then I think it's fair to say, unfortunately true, that
knowledge itself can become a weapon" (Symposium).
- Bill Joy, Chief Scientist, Sun Microsystems
On the intractable complexity of current systems:
"What we're trying to build are the mammals to compete with the big
computational dinosaurs. You can imagine how the conversation went: 'They're
too small. They're nothing - they're not enterprise scaled.' But the comet is
coming. And when it does, we know who inherits the earth" (One Huge
Computer).
- Jim Waldo, Sun senior staff engineer, Java Developer
On the inherent risks of relying on software:
"Software is the glue that holds systems together. If the software is
not trustworthy, the system is not trustworthy" (362).
- David Parnas, Consultant to the DoD
On the inherent flaws in any software:
"Testing can show the presence of bugs, never their absence"
(Parnas 362).
- E. W. Dijkstra, Computer Scientist
On the problem of funding R&D:
"Overfunded research is like heroin, it leads to addiction, weakens the
mind, and leads to prostitution" (Parnas 370).
- Prof. Janusz Makowski Technion Institute
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