After reading your article on "bloatware" all I can say is you must work for Microsoft cause there can't be any other reason for that article...

Why didn't you talk about how bloated software causes instability in operating system such as your beloved windows. Hmm... how many times has windows crashed on you in the past month.

Bloatware = Instability Clean Compact Code = Stability and Less Support Nightmares

It is possible to write clean and compact, stable code that has all the same features as your bloated code...

-- Anonymous, March 27, 2001

Answers

The real problem with bloated software in my opinion is that having lots of features means having lots of features to maintain. My interpretation of Joel's article is that he thinks that features are in software because people use them. I tend to agree with this philosophy. However, it is important to not underestimate the importance of always writing good code and maintaining that code (which means refactoring often). Not doing so causes usability problems, security problems, instability, and other nightmares. In my opinion, it is much better to not implement a feature at all than to introduce a new security hole for something that few people actually need (scripting support in Outlook comes to mind). Since you never know what might introduce a security hole, you have to ensure that enough people will use a feature to justify doing it well.

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001

Features are in software because people use them...

I agree with Yinon on the point that "The real problem with bloated software in my opinion is that having lots of features means having lots of features to maintain." However, I don't think the main reason for adding features is because people use them. Software upgrades is a profitable business, and adding features is a good way to a) justify charging people money periodically and b) ensure customer lock-in.

Going back to the subject of bloatware... I think the comparison should be independent of cost of hard drives or processing power. If we were to factor in the improvements of computer technology in defining "bloatware", then EXCEL 95 today is less "bloated" than EXCEL 95 5 years ago.... Now does that make any sense?

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2001