Software Tools for technical skills: Cost, Quality, Complexity

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Anthony

GURPS rules for software tools don't say how big they are.

They do for specific settings. Transhuman Space, p. 143, right sidebar.

[jeff_wilson]

Originally Posted by Owen Smith

Wow, it's about 20 years since I heard anyone call a hard disc a Winchester. It's not a term in common use any more, and realistically never was among the general public.

It's okay, Vicky's not a general.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

They do for specific settings. Transhuman Space, p. 143, right sidebar.

Well, in that case I'll just point out a general rule of software engineering: software will expand to fill available space. I first used word processing software on a machine with 64k RAM, and WYSIWYG on a machine with 512k. Somehow, modern word processors manage to use a thousand times that.

[jeff_wilson]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Well, in that case I'll just point out a general rule of software engineering: software will expand to fill available space. I first used word processing software on a machine with 64k RAM, and WYSIWYG on a machine with 512k. Somehow, modern word processors manage to use a thousand times that.

Well, there are gobs more included features now, starting with hardware independence.

[ldj00]

Hello,

If you want a realistic cost, what would it take to have that software created by characters?

With so many *AIs around, the vast amount of computing power in someone's pinkie, 'programming' at TL10 might be a conversation between the programmer and his 'interface' about the logic patterns and algorithms to use for specific issues.

I can just imagine a PC AI who's day job is being a programming interface for an architect or stock portfolio manager, while residing in orbit and being part of the party. Timesharing their attention between talking about the best material for the clients cabinets, while trying to data mine in prep for a mission...

Ok, who is running a game where I can play such a character? :)

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by ldj00

Hello,

If you want a realistic cost, what would it take to have that software created by characters?

Roughly, cost of one copy times the number of copies that are likely to be out there. I'd go with 10-100,000 times list price.

[ldj00]

Hello Anthony,

Don't forget profit margin, overhead, etc, but I think that would be a good way to start.

[dcarson]

A big expense for mass produced software is user support. Much of this is explaining to users that the reason the program isn't working is they are doing it wrong. A program written for your own use doesn't have that. You can also save on interface design since you know what all the things are for and what range of input they need.

[Langy]

Originally Posted by dcarson

A big expense for mass produced software is user support. Much of this is explaining to users that the reason the program isn't working is they are doing t wrong. A program written for your own use doesn't have that. You can also save on interface design since you know what all the things are for and what range of input they need.

Very true - but with only a few users, each copy will be massively expensive. Even an extremely simple piece of software I'm developing is costing my employer something between $5000 and $15000, and that's just the cost of my direct programming hours. You're not going to get custom software costing much less than that to develop.

[jeff_wilson]

Originally Posted by Langy

Very true - but with only a few users, each copy will be massively expensive. Even an extremely simple piece of software I'm developing is costing my employer something between $5000 and $15000, and that's just the cost of my direct programming hours. You're not going to get custom software costing much less than that to develop.

In THS, software that writes other software is very common. You can buy a LAI, add on some coder skillsets, rent a host shell for it, and your cost for the customized software is shell rent plus the opportunity cost of the original capital investment. This could work out to something as cheap as $1/hour, since LAIs can put in 6000+ hours per year.