Chris's Wiki :: blog/tech/PerfectionTrap Commentshttps://utcc.utoronto.ca/~cks/space/blog/tech/PerfectionTrap?atomcommentsDWiki2024-03-15T19:09:25ZRecent comments in Chris's Wiki :: blog/tech/PerfectionTrap.By Verisimilitude on /blog/tech/PerfectionTraptag:CSpace:blog/tech/PerfectionTrap:e73489e34246557b4807e49863140a7386459690Verisimilitudehttp://verisimilitudes.net<div class="wikitext"><p>Notice no one ever says that the perfect mathematical proof is the enemy of the good mathematical proof. This is because a flawed mathematical proof is worthless, and similarly for software.</p>
<blockquote><p>In reality it's not actually a choice between right and worse; it's really a choice between nothing, worse, and right.</p>
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<p>In the eighteen years since and a world increasingly reliant on software with no fallback, it should be clear that nothing is preferable to deeply-flawed software.</p>
<blockquote><p>The easiest place to see this is computer security, where insistence on perfection (or some excellent approximation) is one of the holy tenets.</p>
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<p>It's better to know one is <em>insecure</em>, than to falsely believe one to be <em>secure</em>, however these words are defined.</p>
</div>2024-03-15T19:09:25Z