Also known as "How to fix a Dishwasher (and also Software)." Presented at TWG on October 8th, 2014.
DISHWASHERS,SOFTWARE,AND OPEN SOURCE.
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CLEANDISHESDISHWASHERDIRTYDISHES
DIRTYDISHESDISHWASHERDIRTYDISHES
DIRTYDISHESDISHWASHERBROKENDIRTYDISHES
BROKENaside!
“IT’S ”BROKENaside!
“IT’S ”BROKEN“It’s broken? Do you knowwhat’s wrong with it? I can getsomeone out there to take alook next week or so, maybe.”aside!
“IT’S ”BROKENcan mean “I’m surprised.”aside!
“IT’S ”BROKENcan mean “I’m unhappy.”aside!
“IT’S ”BROKENexpresses exactly 1 bit of information.aside!
NOTBROKENBROKENaside!
NOTBROKENBROKENDON’TREPLACEREPLACEaside!
If you care aboutfixing something,you need to bemore descriptivethan “broken”.aside!
DIRTYDISHESDISHWASHER“BROKEN”DIRTYDISHES
DIRTYDISHESDISHWASHER“BROKEN”DIRTYDISHESopaque black box
DIRTYDISHESDISHWASHER“BROKEN”DIRTYDISHESopaque black boxWATER
DIRTYDISHESDISHWASHER“BROKEN”DIRTYDISHESopaque black boxWATERPOWER
DIRTYDISHESDISHWASHER“BROKEN”DIRTYDISHESopaque black boxWATERPOWERSOAP
DIRTYDISHESDISHWASHER“BROKEN”DIRTYDISHESopaque black boxWATERPOWER HEATSOAP
DIRTYDISHESDISHWASHER“BROKEN”DIRTYDISHESopaque black boxWATERPOWER HEATNOISESOAP
DIRTYDISHESDISHWASHER“BROKEN”DIRTYDISHESopaque black boxWATERPOWER HEATWATERNOISESOAP
DIRTYDISHESDISHWASHER“BROKEN”DIRTYDISHESopaque black boxWATERPOWER HEATNOWATERNOISESOAP
If we can’t look in theblack box, then wecan guess at whathappens inside.
DIRTYDISHESDISHWASHER“BROKEN”DIRTYDISHESopaque black boxWATERPOWER HEATNOWATERNOISEWhy is the machine not draining?SOAP
HYPOTHESIS:THE DRAIN MECHANISMIS BROKEN
“IT’S ”BROKEN
“I’m pretty surethe drain pumpis broken.”“IT’S ”BROKEN
“I’m pretty surethe drain pumpis broken.”“Oh, that’s easy to fix - I’llorder you a new one onlineand you can install it yourself.”
What does thishave to do withsoftware?
CLEANDISHESDISHWASHERDIRTYDISHESopaque black box
OUTPUTCLOSED SOURCESOFTWAREINPUTopaque black box
OUTPUTCLOSED SOURCESOFTWAREINPUTopaque “black” box
OPEN SOURCESOFTWAREOUTPUTINPUTtransparent “white” box
Open source means that we canlook inside the boxandfix problems more easily.
“Mural Dishwasher”by Marie-Christine Lacasse & Marie Claude Savard, Université du Québec à Montréal
Most software we all useis open source.We can’t be afraid tolook “inside the box” and fix things.
We’re hiring!Come help us use technology to solve problems.