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A comment on Artemis computer running two instances of MS outlook; they can't figure out why. Parent comment

Re:Artemis computer running two instances of MS outlook; the... by applfanboysbgon on Thursday April 02, 2026 @06:32PM (#47621049)
This quote is completely and totally irrelevant. Nobody is saying they should code a new Outlook. If they did code something, it would be significantly smaller in scope and rigorously tested like spacebound programs in the past were. "New space-engineering-grade code created with actual engineering practices" is absolutely going to be more reliable than "old bloated commercial shitware". But I guess software engineering is a lost art, so it can't be helped.
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Re:Artemis computer running two instances of MS outlook; the... by HeyLaughingBoy on Thursday April 02, 2026 @06:39PM (#47621127)
It's also going to take a hell of a lot longer and cost more than buying an Outlook license. If I was lead on that project, you'd have an uphill battle trying to convince me that spending $100k+ on an email solution unless you can point to specific, serious deficiencies in the existing off the shelf solutions.

Software Engineering is far from a lost art: part of the practice is intelligently making cost-benefit decisions.

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Re:Artemis computer running two instances of MS outlook; the... by applfanboysbgon on Thursday April 02, 2026 @06:43PM (#47621155)
The current solution is literally causing problems in space. Space-grade engineering is expensive, but having things go wrong on your already very expensive mission is even more expensive.
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Re:Artemis computer running two instances of MS outlook; the... by dotancohen on Thursday April 02, 2026 @07:13PM (#47621415)
Until we've had this failure, I do agree that using COTS software was the logical choice. And now we know better.
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Re:Artemis computer running two instances of MS outlook; the... by tremon on Friday April 03, 2026 @12:17PM (#47628558)
Sure, but people who didn't know better until this particular incident do not deserve the title "engineer". Being able to classify and manage risks before they happen is engineering 101.
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Re:Artemis computer running two instances of MS outlook; the... by dotancohen on Sunday April 05, 2026 @03:10PM (#47652812)
Engineering requires working around constraints as well - and a major constraint of any project I've worked on was budget. If they wrote a new email client and it had some bug, we'd be laughing about why they didn't use one of the COTS email clients.
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Re:Artemis computer running two instances of MS outlook; the... by orf on Friday April 03, 2026 @07:21AM (#47625391)
It’s a personal communication device. It’s not mission critical.
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