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The definition of "bloat" - RE: Software

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Josh:
Linux comes with far more than any windows install does. Yes, you can get a BARE BONES (Read: No functionality) linux install done in about 20-30mb, but what would you be able to do with it?

Lashiec:
Em, I know that, but...

;D
-Lashiec (February 17, 2008, 01:08 PM)
--- End quote ---

J-Mac:
Without getting into any specific programs for now, I see as bloat any application that increases its overall size (mainly in memory, but also in CPU usage) primarily because it can, and to add so-called "new features" for the purpose of marketing and to be able to release a new version "on schedule" - meaning at least annually - when they do not have enough truly improved or added features to justify a new release.

Like adding a new, pretty UI, if the existing one is functional, purely because the disk space is there.  And they have no or not enough new features for a new version.  Hmm... I will mention one app after all:  Mind Manager 7 comes to mind in that MindJet overhauled Mind Manager's UI and made it a Ribbon that matches Office 2007.  And not much else in the way of functionality.  Why?  Well for one, they were required to do so in order to maintain their Windows Logo Certification.  That's an internal problem as far as the end users are concerned, as it doesn't really add functionality to the product.  But they also had very few new features developed yet.  And it was that time of the year when they always release a new version.  Revenue must increase, or at the very least, not decrease. Regardless of what they have to offer to users.

So that is one example of what I consider to be software bloat.  As disk space and memory becomes less expensive and thus more widely available, software developers make their products expand to fill it.  Used to be for some that the programmers were happy to be able to do things they could not afford to include in the past because the benefit did not justify the memory and disk space hits. That accounted for some early bloat.  Now it is the marketing and accounting folks finding reasons to add just about anything they can without expending a lot of programming time so they can release and make more money.

Jim

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