“It's the nature of government, to build enduring institutions, structures that stay long after their purpose is over. If you pay people to help the poor, you have people who won't be paid if there aren't any poor, so they'll be sure to find some.” PeopleIfsLongHelpingGovernmentPurposePoliticsPoorPayEconomyPaidInstitutionsStructureEndureLiberalismHelp The Poor Author:Jerry Pournelle
“Mutually Assured Destruction, MAD, works only as long as it works; it does not know what to do if deterrence fails, for it envisions no defensive capabilities. A deterrent works until it is needed; then one needs defenses.” IfsKnowsNeedsLongDoeWarPeaceFailingNeededDestructionMadDefenseWorking ItCapabilityAssuredDeterrentDeterrenceMutually Assured Destruction Author:Jerry Pournelle
“The American way of war is to build an army, then another, then a third, while building fleets. If the war is still on at that point we smash.” IfsWayStillsWarBuildingThirdsArmy Author:Jerry Pournelle
“Microsoft has gotten so big that it can put out a Preview that will install itself without checking first to see if it has expired. The message here is that Microsoft's time is worth more than yours.... no start-up company could get away with being that arrogant.” IfsFirstsBigsCompanyMessagesGet AwayArrogantMicrosoftExpiredPreview Author:Jerry Pournelle
“Because Tom Doherty and people like that are not stupid. If they could have streamlined their operation more to get more money out of it, they would have done it. It's not like they're a bunch of idiots.” PeopleIfsDoneStupidBunchIdiotOperationsTomsMore MoneyNot Stupid Author:Jerry Pournelle
“Gates has always understood Moore's Law better than anyone else in the industry. If you can make something run at all, get it out there -it may be slow and clunky, but hardware improvements will bail you out. If you wait until it's running perfectly on the hardware already in the field, it will be obsolete before it's released. This philosophy built Microsoft and is the main reason Microsoft won the war IBM declared back in the OS/2 days.” IfsMayWarReasonPhilosophyRunningLawWaitingLearningFieldsIndustryUnderstoodBuiltImprovementProgrammingGatesMicrosoftObsoleteHardwareBailIbmMoore's Law Author:Jerry Pournelle
