[time-nuts] Maintaining boatanchors (was Capacitor Failures)

[Chuck Harris]

When I am doing production software, I check the entire tool chain into
the version control system.  That way whenever you make a version you will
be making it in exactly the same way as it was originally done.

This can be difficult when there are commercial software tools in the chain.
To alleviate that problem, I only use open source software and tools.

-Chuck Harris

Hal Murray wrote:
>
>> We all start out saying, "This time, we're going to archive things in an
>> orderly way, and do it as we go along, and it's going to be a exemplary
>> situation" and pretty soon, as schedules get tight and budgets tighter,
>> that good intention goes by the wayside.
>
> Modern source-control systems make things a lot easier.
>
> Part of it depends on culture.  If everybody expects to find everything they
> need in the local file system, then it becomes a habit to collect things like
> copies of data sheets.
>
> I tend to be paranoid about putting everything into a make file.  Even if
> some piece of crap software doesn't have a command line mode, I'll put
> something in the make file to print out directions.
>
> If you are sufficiently paranoid, you also keep track of the software that
> you used to build things and maybe even the OS it runs on.  That includes
> utilities as well as compilers, linkers, and CAD systems.  You might even
> stash away an old PC, just in case.
>
>
>
>