Re: The joy of FORTRAN

On Thu, 26 Sep 2024 07:49:14 -1000, Lynn Wheeler wrote:

... and perhaps most damaging, the old culture under Watson Snr and Jr
of free and vigorous debate was replaced with *SYNCOPHANCY* and *MAKE NO
WAVES* under Opel and Akers.

That happens to every company: a small, hungry, quick-moving, risk-taking
startup grows large and successful, and becomes conservative, slow-moving
and risk-averse.

Microsoft is an interesting example: Bill Gates had read all the books on
the above, and during the 1990s he was able to negotiate a balance in
which Microsoft stayed hungry and kept the startup mindset even as it
became large and successful. After he stood aside, the predictable pattern
followed.