[time-nuts] Maintaining boatanchors

David C. Partridge david.partridge at perdrix.co.uk
Sun Oct 24 11:10:58 UTC 2010


 Oh how true - an organisation I worked for some years back had the source code matching a custom package that was running at a certain customer, but not the build environment (that machine with that precise operating system patch level, compiler patch level etc.).

When the customer said thay'd pay for the source to look after if themselves, rather than continue to pay maintenance, they insisted that a new build be run to prove that exact byte for byte identical binaries to what they were running could be re-created  - a wise move indeed - it took 8 man months to re-create that build environment (and that was only possible because I insisted we archive all the patches to the system, compilers and libraries).

Regards,
David Partridge


-----Original Message-----
From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On Behalf Of David I. Emery
Sent: 24 October 2010 04:22
To: jfor at quik.com; Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Maintaining boatanchors

	Horror stories abound about organizations that need to make some minor patch or change to source code of a popular product for some important customer even just a few years after its release and nobody can find the right source code or the right build environment (compilers, libraries, OS etc and the hardware they ran on) or if they can be found it takes many many hours of expensive time and talent to reconstruct the right stuff to actually make a code image that matches what is shipping.


--
  Dave Emery N1PRE/AE, die at dieconsulting.com  DIE Consulting, Weston, Mass 02493 "An empty zombie mind with a forlorn barely readable weatherbeaten 'For Rent' sign still vainly flapping outside on the weed encrusted pole - in celebration of what could have been, but wasn't and is not to be now either."


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