|
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
title: "Not old but vintage. Kat-arena"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
mobile_menu_title: "Old or vintage. Kat-arena"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
date: 2022-05-11
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Author: "Katerina"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
description: "Kat-arena takes a glimpse of software aging, a topic ever more relevant today, for video games, for OSes and for numerous software technologies. Just how many ways a software can age?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
series: [ "Kat-arena" ]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
categories: [ "software", "open source" ]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
tags: [ "Kat-arena", "aging", "software", "open source", "obsolescence" , "feature-creep", "bloatware", "software bloat"]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
# Not old, but vintage
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Recently, Sony announced the creation of a Game Preservation Team,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
and the App Store seems to be removing apps that haven’t been
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"updated in a significant amount of time". Nowadays, digital preservation
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
initiatives focus both on hardware and software components,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
but it seems tricky. Surely, "Time destroys all things".
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
However, the software part is not exactly a *thing*, it is a set of
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
mathematical formulas. So, does it get old?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The short answer: yes, it does.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
> "Just as we will all (if we are lucky) get old, software aging can, and will occur in all successful products."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
> -- David Lorge Parnas, Software aging (1994)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
However, you are not here for short answers, aren't you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## The many ways to age
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Software ages, and does so in various ways.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mostly, since software is always part of a complex environment that
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
sometimes includes other software or even humans.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Naturally, each part is affected by changes on other levels.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Whether they are planned or unintentional, desired or problematic - any change can lead to the software aging.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In fact, it is mostly a question of the aging environment surrounding the soft.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Still, the chain of interactions in time might become so perplexing that
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
separating software's local issues from external factors might become impossible.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
With this, scientists define *aging* as the accumulation of errors over time in long-running software.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
While bugs in the code are the main bad guys, the list of antagonists includes data corruption,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
wrong commands, faulty statements, and unexpected interactions
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
with other software - you know, life is a dangerous endeavor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
On a basic user level, these issues are often solved by rebooting the entire system and cleaning the memory.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yet, it is solving the issue in the same way as the "burning down the house to get rid of a scary insect" approach.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clearly, the best way to prevent this sort of aging and ensure the system's reliability
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
is to get rid of bugs in every single software. However, pretty much like in real life - all bugs can never be found...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
plus, some of them are features, right?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I promise I will dive deeper into bugs someday, meanwhile, you may want to check Garg's study (reference below)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
to dig further into this subject.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As the subject is extremely compound, an entire line of research dedicated to solving the issue of software
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
aging is yet to find a perfect solution. If you are looking for some good suggestions, see the software rejuvenation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
However, aging may have a different interpretation that is way closer to actual users.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
It is the trend for a certain technology.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For developers, it implies a constant necessity to update their products.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Surely, some of them are vital and greatly improve efficiency, correct bugs, or affect core functions,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
but other "new versions" and "cool features" have little to do with real issues.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In other words, there are numerous perfectly functioning "old" technologies that can be used today and
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
sometimes are even easier to run and introduce, but they are just "not cool" anymore.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For example, how many companies have introduced Augmented Reality features to their products
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
following the Pokémon Go boom? And how many users have activated it in the last year?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The poor result of a constant rush for new features is referred to as **Feature creep.**
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
At the same time, new features make code bigger, thus creating more space for bugs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Those new bugs, in turn, increase the aging process and the demand for new updates.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Curiously, this phenomenon has an amazingly accurate name - **Software bloat,** or **Bloatware.**
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Altogether, it seems like an eternal dev circle where instead of improving an existing product,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
companies keep adding new features to stay cool. Fair to say, for many developers and companies,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
it becomes so unbearable it is easier to abandon a project completely.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Compatibility is another issue strongly connected with unbearable development. Software can be
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
labeled as *old* because it was agreed to be claimed so. This type of old may have
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
little to do with actual functionality or is often planned by *fundamental* soft
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
producers such as OS developers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
It is arguable whether compatibility requirements are completely evil.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The *pro* argument is that *planned aging* encourages software rejuvenation,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
so it is a direct way to fight degradation. So, these updates allow a soft to be
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger".
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
However, this improvement is often caused by the bare fact that the *system* is new
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
which brings back the "burning the house down" approach.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Along with all the good it brings, it can also kill it completely,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
or send the idea to development hell as it will be internally stuck in production unable
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
to catch the required schedule (think of Duke Nukem Forever or Diablo III).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Video gamers usually learn about compatibility thanks to
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"the game is not supported by the X.Y version or later" or
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"this title will not be transported to the next-gen consoles".
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Both messages can be translated as "this developer sees no point in updating
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
it to match new requirements anymore".
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## A mean to live again
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This painful question of whether devs should support their software by the end of time (rightfully)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
causes a revolution in fandoms as fans go berserk.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sometimes this rage brings changes by showing companies that the soft is more popular than it appears to be,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
or by introducing an open-source practice.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Opening a codebase to other developers and users allows the community to directly participate in the development
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
and provide essential updates to a soft when its original creators are unable to do so, for whatever reason.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
With this, open-sourcing is a powerful tool to fight both fast-changing fashions and planned obsolescence.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The product will continue to live (or even grow) as long as there are people interested in it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Moreover, it can be rediscovered later - just like Bach's music, Kafka's literary heritage,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
and many other great works and ideas.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
That's why software supported by the community can receive a particular vintage or even antique charm.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yes, it can be argued whether the initial concept behind a soft matches the result of community development,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
but isn't it the most amazing thing about ideas - it is stories and how they are changing over time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
So, on a very poetic level, open sources allow software to fight the brutal degradation of living thing
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
and join the quasi-eternal existence of great ideas.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Quite an impressive answer to an initially lunatic question, I must say.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Katerina
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Sources
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* **S. Garg, A. van Moorsel, K. Vaidyanathan and K. S. Trivedi, *"A methodology for detection and estimation of software aging",* Proceedings Ninth International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering (Cat. No.98TB100257), 1998, pp. 283-292, DOI: 10.1109/ISSRE.1998.730892.**
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* **David Parnas *"Software aging",* Invited Plenary Talk, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. 1994.**
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* **Kishor Trivedi *"Software Aging and Software Rejuvenation"*, a lecture for the Networking and Information Technology on 11/05/2022 (accessed on 04/05/2022, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tO6p1fYeu8>)**
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* **Michael Grottke, Rivalino Matias Jr, Kishor S. Trivedi *"The Fundamentals of Software Aging",* workshop at 19st International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering, 2008 (accessed on 05/05/2022, URL <https://grottke.de/documents/FundamentalsOfSWAging.pdf>)**
|
