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If only we could have had this conversation for all the software we use over a lifetime and get used to or very productive with...

<< Hello, Mr/Ms Shoestring Budget software developer in 2003... Could you write your (MIPS simulator, CAD app, VLSI Design System) in 64 bit code so when Goobuntu, Crapple and Microslop remove support for 32 bit apps I'll still be able to use your software? Pretty please? >>

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A conversation requires not just a request but also a response. Here it is:

<< No thanks, we’re not interested in investing effort in making sure you can use our software on operating systems newly released 17 years from now. Please fund our efforts by purchasing a new version once every 10 years. >>

That doesn't help if the company went out of business in the meantime.

What does it matter? Companies don’t build software to last forever and they especially do not care about what happens after they go out of business.

Things don’t last forever. Software vendors won’t support everything forever. Middleware and operating system vendors won’t keep the albatross of supporting old things around forever.

If you want, you can keep running an old version of Mac OS X as long as you want. Just don’t expect Apple to support it.

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