In another post, I claimed that software can’t be written with no bugs at all. Well, it turns out that’s not quite true. What I shouldhave said is that writing bug-free software is not possible within the constraints of most software businesses or open-source projects.
But that just doesn’t have the same pizazz, does it?
The trouble is that software businesses exist to make money, and open source projects exist to give developers interesting things to do and exposure. (Naturally, there are some exceptions in both camps, but if you imagine that’s always true, you won’t be too far off.) And if these are the goals you’re chasing — customers and money, or interesting problems and exposure — you don’t end up with perfect software. You go broke or get bored before you get there.