[alexisl]

This has come up in a recent conversation and has gotten me to think about it. There are basically three schools of thought for most people. The first is "If it ain't broke don't fix it". I tend to fall under this category most of the time. The second is "Preventive maintenance will prevent a breakdown". Which most people fall into some of the time. The third is "Get the product out and we will fix it later". This is a corporate type of mentality. Maybe a little examination will tell us why we chose each of these trains of thought, sometimes even trains for different occassions.

"If it ain't broke don't fix it" I tend to go with this one a lot, mostly because I have been burned before trying to "fix" something that was working fine before. It applies to just about everything from car repairs to installing the latest patch for the OS. Some times the patches create more problems than they fix so I tend to wait until a new Maintenance Level comes out because they are supposed to be the most stable.

"Preventive maintenance will prevent a breakdown" I used to go with this train of thought most of the time until I got burned by it but it does have its merit if used cautiously. You will always have the latest patch installed and be as secure as possible at the time. The best advice for this is to be sure you know what you are installing and if it is considered stable. I don't know how many times I havee installed things just to find out it was not what I wanted or needed. Still I do go with it on some things such as oil changes in my car because this maintenance has proven to work.

"Get the product out we will fix it later". This seems to be creeping into all corporations and not just the obvious software companies. How many recalls of vehicles have there been in the last year. There was some discussion years ago about the stabitiy of a certain OS. The discussion went along the lines of: if a car had that many problems it would be recalled, the CEO of the company replied with something to the effect; if the computer crashes it doesn't leave you stranded on the side of the road. While that might be true what is more costly; a tow truck or lost revenue while trying to repair the software, not to mention the cost of the restoration itself. It all boils down to money and greed.