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Re: [LUG] slightly OT: request reference statistics on actual functionality of an application used

 

On 23/06/10 21:25, Simon Waters wrote:
> tom brough wrote:
>>
>> Someone told me recently that as little as 25% of the functionality of
>> an application is ever used. Is anyone aware of any references to
>> research in this area that I can follow up as I am reluctant to use
>> "word of mouth" statistics without some references to sources.

> GNU "ls" has about 56 command line arguments, and there are at least 26
> I've never used in the 25 years or so I've been using it. I guess for
> command line junkies which options are used might generate some sort of
> objective measure. Although does it really matter if you've never done
> "ls --version" since the code is there for the one time you actually
> need to find this out. I'd have used a lot fewer if I'd code more script
> in Perl than Bash/Korn/Bourne over the years - does that make "ls" less
> good in some way?
> 
> 

Thanks Simon, I had realised that it was a "how long is a piece of
string?" type question. Apologies because I forgot to frame it in the
context of costs of those unused functions. From your above analysis it
would seem that ls is 50% redundant (from your vast experience) however
the point is that if you paid next to nothing to use your ls command
(which I assume is correct) 50% of nothing = nothing ... however with
proprietary software 50% of significant cost = 50% of significant cost.

Thanks as always for your no nonsense reply....

I am really hoping to find some "white paper" that explores the value of
software especially in the context of Enterprise Licensing Agreements. I
believe that there is a strong case to argue that such licenses actually
hide a multitude of "sins" in terms of unused functionality bundled in
as a "sweetener" that is never used in the license's lifespan. However,
(like you pointed out) I really need some proof not anecdotes.

Tom.


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