From: christopher.m.jones@gmail.com   
      
   Paul Hovnanian P.E. wrote:   
   > "Christopher M. Jones" wrote:   
   >> From what I can tell rocketry is roughly comparable to   
   >>software engineering in terms of intelligence, educational   
   >>background, and systems complexity (indeed, software   
   >>development is a large part of modern rocketry).  I would   
   >>wager that the group of folks who design and build Boeing's   
   >>rockets is not too different from the group of folks who   
   >>work on Microsoft's Windows operating system.  Take from   
   >>that what you will.   
   >   
   > No. Nowhere near the same level of analysis and testing.  Take it from   
   > someone who used to work for Boeing and occasionally got stuck with   
   > Windows (Microsoft's products were generally not approved for use in   
   > critical business processes at Boeing, let alone avionics), even with   
   > the advent of Windows 2000.   
   >   
   > Avionics system engineering generally cannot separate the software   
   > engineering task very far from those of systems and hardware   
   > engineering. Meanwhile, the desktop software industry frequently   
   > separates the software development from the problem domain.   
      
   I think you missed my point.  It was not that major software   
   development proceeds along similar paths as does aerospace   
   engineering, it was that the people involved are of a roughly   
   similar level of general intelligence, degree of education,   
   etc.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)