> Some have all those attributes plus some integrity, some don't. Lots of > lousy design is the result of deliberate attempts by perhaps "smart" > people to control mindshare and lock in customers regardless of whether > it makes their lives more difficult.
it could be the product of deliberate action, but i think it can happen naturally. the more complex the software, the more support it needs. so the support organism needs the software complexity as its reason to exist, or even thrive. the support organism that also has the propensity to invite in more complexity will get bigger - which in some corporate structures means more powerful. it's a vicious cycle until the host dies, or a competitor does slightly better. squaring this hypothesis against reality, it seems to match. it's not "intelligent design" but a random natural process.
