Top-Ten
Universal, Permanent, Eternal, Immutable, and Unchanging
Laws of Dependability
With Corollaries
(Ver. 8.0)

10. To err is human, but to really foul up, you need a computer

10.1 -- The amount of damage one human being can do doubles every 18 months.
            (1st Corollary of Moore's Law)

10.2 -- The mouse is quicker than the brain.

9. Software is inherently less reliable than hardware

9.1 -- No spelling checker is prefect.

9.2 -- There is always one more bug. --  (Lubarsky's Law of Cybernetic Entomology)

9.3 -- Failure is not an option; it comes bundled with the software. -- unknown, quoted by Greg Arundale

9.4 -- Windows  (enough said).


8. Liveware is inherently less reliable than software

8.1 -- Never trust any system designed, built, programmed, or operated by a human.

8.2 -- The further removed a system is from human intervention, the more dependable it is likely to be.

8.3 -- Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.

8.4 -- Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better
          idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots.
          So far, the Universe is winning. -- Rich Cook

8.5 -- Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity -- (Hanlon's Razor).

8.6 -- For every Ph.D., there is an equal and opposite Ph.D. -- Thomas Roden (Roden's First Law of Research)
 

7. No good deed goes unpunished

7.1 -- The circuit most likely to short-out and drain the batteries is the monitoring circuit
          installed to protect the batteries.

7.2 -- If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

6. Every silver lining has a cloud

6.1 -- Every endeavor, no matter how well intentioned, is accompanied by adverse effects
         that can negate or overshadow the expected benefits of the endeavor.
         (the law of unintended consequences) --  as stated by Roger Mallett

6.2 -- They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
         deserve neither liberty or security.  -- Benjamin Franklin

6.3 -- No trees were killed in the creation of this message.
         However, a great many electrons were terribly inconvenienced.  -- Unknown

5. The early bird gets the bugs

5.1 -- Never trust any product prior to Version 2.1.

5.2 -- The second mouse to reach the trap gets the cheese.

5.3 -- The early worm gets the bird. -- David House


4. Murphy's Law is a Real-Time process

4.1 -- Things will go wrong on Murphy's timetable, not ours. -- Roger Boisjoly

4.2 -- An assumption will remain valid only until you come to depend on it.

4.3 -- Experience is something you get right after you need it. -- David House

4.4 -- The probability of success in any experiment is inversely proportional to
          the number and importance of observers present -- Henry Yee.

3. Redundancy does not guarantee Fault-Tolerance

3.1 -- The first tire to go flat just might be the spare.

3.2 -- A man with one watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure. – Segal’s Law

3.3 -- One house full of politicians can do just as much damage as two. -- Roger Welsch
         (re Nebraska's unicameral legislature).

3.4 -- Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes est (Who shall guard the guardians themselves)? -- Juvenal
         (as quoted by R. Schlichting and F. Schneider).
 

2. Reality is Application Dependent

2.1 -- As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and
         as  far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality -- Albert Einstein.  

2.2 -- Mother nature is dealing the cards, and we have to play the hand we are dealt,
         even when she's dealing from the bottom of the deck -- unidentified forest fire fighter.

2.3 -- In Science:       Reality is what the evidence says it is, until better evidence comes along;
         In Politics:        Reality is whatever you can fool 51% of the people into believing it is;
         In Engineering:  Reality is as reality does.

1. Keep It Simple, Stupid (The KISS Principle).

1.1 -- Plurality should not be assumed without necessity --  William of Occam (Occam's Razor).

1.2 -- Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily -- (popular variant of Occam's Razor).

1.3 -- There are two ways of constructing a software design. One way is to make it so simple that
          there are obviously no deficiencies. And the other way is to make it so complicated that
          there are no obvious deficiencies. -- C.A.R. Hoare.

1.4 -- Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication -- Leonardo DaVinci.

1.5 -- Make things as simple as possible, but no simpler -- Albert Einstein.

 1.5.1 -- Aye, there's the rub -- Shakespeare.

Editor's Notes: These laws have been collected from a variety of sources, and I have tried to properly cite the originator when known. The astute reader will note the absence of "Murphy's Law", but it's so basic that it goes without saying. Besides, several of these laws can be considered corollaries of Murphy's Law. Finally, as with anything labelled "Universal, Permanent, Eternal, Immutable" and/or "Unchanging", these laws are subject to revision without notice.