[NCUC E-team] VPS

[Tapani Tarvainen]

On Tue, Jan 22, 2013 at 04:16:25PM +0000, Edward Morris (edward.morris at alumni.usc.edu) wrote:

> Stepwise refinement works for me.
> Lets not spend forever getting it right and pretty.
> Never works anyway.

> I totally disagree with this approach.

Perhaps not quite as totally as you think.
Or at least I can see (imagine?) some common ground there.

> we seem to be using a platform that was selected as a fast and easy
> temporary solution in 2003. I don't want to make the same mistake.

One of the major problems with Ning is that it is very rigid, hard
to customize, and as it is owned and controlled by a single company,
you can do very little about it. Once you start using it, you're
stuck with all decisions the company makes.
We can avoid that trap by using our server, which we can
tweak in whatever way we like. It'll be more work, but
worth it, I think.

I don't like that kind of outside control anyway - looking at
the history of Ning, who's to say they won't decide they don't
like something we do and kick us out?
(cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ning_%28website%29#Controversies)

> Then, again, I take a more optimistic viewpoint in that I like getting
> things right and I find when I do so things do work.

I don't think we can get it right on paper, so to speak.
We need a platform to experiment, do quick mockups, &c.
I've never seen any IT project succeed by doing a total,
comprehensive, detailed design first and then implementing it.
Experimenting is essential.
Indeed, without sufficient testing we're much more likely
to end up with another poor (and ugly) solution.
So you might view that "stepwise refinement" as a methodology
for getting at the optimal solution.

-- 
Tapani Tarvainen