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What's The Greatest Software Ever Written?
informationweek.com — Most red-blooded technologists will offer a quick opinion on what's the greatest software ever, but when you take the time to evaluate what makes software truly brilliant, the choices aren't so obvious.
p9s50W5k4GUD2c6- 1419 diggs
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- OneManArmy, on 10/12/2007, -8/+95From TFA:
12. The Morris worm
11. Google search rank
10. Apollo guidance system
9. Excel spreadsheet
8. Macintosh OS
7. Sabre system
6. Mosaic browser
5. Java language
4. IBM System 360 OS
3. Gene-sequencing software at the Institute for Genomic Research.
2. IBM's System R.
1. UNIX.- diggitystar, on 10/12/2007, -28/+82WHAT!? No Windows? And textpad isn't on there either! This list is broken...
- gmillerd, on 10/12/2007, -15/+6Definately an interesting standard for a list.
Been a while since my thoughts have been to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_worm and the last time 'i just wanted to play a game with a friend' was a excuse for millions of dollars in damages.
Kudos to the Apollo system, that was cool. - HMTKSteve, on 10/12/2007, -28/+9How did Excel spreadsheet make it on the list but not Visicalc???
- PJBonoVox, on 10/12/2007, -23/+14412) Pornsnatcher
11) Porngrabber
10) Pornloader
9) PornGet
8) KPornGet
7) GPornGet
6) XPornGet
5) EasyPorn
4) Porn4Linux
3) Porn4Win
2) Porn4OSX
etc... - hammydude, on 10/12/2007, -33/+7The best software ever is Windows 95 SP2
http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Windows_95_SP2#History - texpundit, on 10/12/2007, -43/+10Notepad
- theweekend, on 10/12/2007, -33/+3ACDSEE....
- apocalizer, on 10/12/2007, -24/+2Interesting-The forerunner to Internet Explorer beat almost everything. Maybe I should switch if it's that good.
- podperson, on 10/12/2007, -25/+12Making lists like this can be interesting for the conversations it starts. Anyone who puts Java and Excel in such a list loses all my respect instantly. Any reasonable argument for Java seems like it would be better made for C. And if you want to go there but think impact trumps popularity, why not pick Algol-68? -- the fountainhead of the dominant programming paradigm (even Simula, which was the first OOP, sprang from Algol-68).
Excel is a joke. It wasn't the first spreadsheet. It's like nominating PowerPoint, or Windows 3.1, or any other commercially successful product that displaced an earlier rival.
It's impossible to compare, say, the gene-sequencing software he ranks as number three with similar pieces of software written for other specialised purposes that folks don't understand. I'm sure someone with slightly different biases might claim, say, that some piece of code that makes telephone systems work deserves similar accolades. - texpundit, on 10/12/2007, -37/+16Notepad is the single most versatile piece of software I've ever owned...and it gets dugg down?!?
F'n n00bs. - theone3, on 10/12/2007, -12/+71The Matrix.
- databasecowboy, on 10/12/2007, -8/+35@texpudit
Hey, I like notepad too. Best windows app. But vi is a part of UNIX and it is way more versatile than Notepad. - biffta, on 10/12/2007, -27/+5Great, Ubuntu made it to number 1!!!!
- troydoogle7, on 10/12/2007, -17/+9Horray a post about greatest ever software that doesn't include osx, ubuntu and firefox!
( in their current states anyway)
my vote goes to phpbb. (its a secure as ,.... ) - borninda818, on 10/12/2007, -13/+6it may not be much, but in my business this simple program has come in more useful than anything else.
http://joshmadison.net/software/convert/ - josegutz, on 10/12/2007, -17/+5 Does anyone here even know what ACDSEE is?
Its a program to view any type of image file...
AKA Porn collection...
You bunch of freaks... I love you guys. - paperlace, on 10/12/2007, -15/+4 ...Solitaire...
- macemoneta, on 10/12/2007, -2/+25I'd have to add IBM's VM (Virtual Machine; VM/360 through z/VM) to the list. Over 40 years ago, IBM developed the concepts and technology that we are just starting to widely use on our desktops and servers today (in the form of VMWare, Xen, Parallels, etc.).
The idea that you could create a virtual machine, and run other operating systems in that (including VM itself!) is somewhat profound. I've personally setup and used three levels of virtual machine to test software for hardware that didn't even exist yet.
Someone mentioned the Matrix; VM is the Matrix! - vbsurfer, on 10/12/2007, -11/+3Wow, this is a no brainer... The greatest software ever written would have to be Pacific Tech's Graphing Calculator!
- thomasjordan, on 10/12/2007, -7/+8I think my vote would have to go to any one of the open webservers (apache, etc.)... They reduced the barrier of entry to getting onto the internet. Those are probably at least partly responsible for the explosion of blogs and user-generated content.
- theweekend, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1@ diggitystar
That's an awesome C3PO impersonation...You could have fooled me. - mickeyt, on 10/12/2007, -9/+4In no particular order... (these are my opinion)
IBM's OS/400
BSD *nix
SpinRite
Ghost
VMware
TCP/IP package/protocol
Google search rank/algorithm
and last but not least...
The Windows OS...(obviously this one is a joke!) - trylleklovn, on 10/12/2007, -9/+26We alle know the greatest software ever written is REALPLAYER!!
- Trav3133, on 10/12/2007, -6/+13No Windows ME :(
- puck, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11I actually read the article. The author says UNIX is #1 then goes on to specify that BSD 4.3 (a version of UNIX) as the greatest piece of software ever.
- mennis, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1Master Boot Record.
- haackers, on 10/12/2007, -12/+4Java thats such a joke. It can't be that good when its so slow. Oh i guess speed doesn't matter. LOL
- s4nt, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2WTF? where is SSH?
- SmurfButcherBob, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4Morris Worm??! Are they high? That was the biggest f*ing kludgeware ever, and it didn't even work right!
And "Java". Yep, real innovation there, totally new paradigm. NOT. Cross platform and JIT were hardly new concepts by then.
How about we ditch those two (and excel along with them), and replace them with Visicalc. THAT was not only "Great Software", it was downright brilliant.
Talk about rewriting history... Excel??! - fauxXenophanes, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1fasthackem
- llbbl, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1IMO MS paint is the best piece of software Microsoft has written. Excel sucks you can do 98% what it can do with free software.
- Fenster, on 10/12/2007, -10/+9110 print 'Hello World'
20 goto 10- acariquara, on 10/12/2007, -7/+106actually it's
10 PRINT "Hello World"
20 GOTO 10
BASIC interpreters do not qualify single quote as string delimitators. This is not javascript, yo. - theone3, on 10/12/2007, -7/+7410 PRINT "Hello, World!"
20 GOTO 10
Enthusiasm Patch. - bitt3n, on 10/12/2007, -6/+9510 PRINT "Goodbye Cruel World!"
20 FORMAT C
omghax - tzmguitarist, on 10/12/2007, -9/+34What's a delimitator? Is it a delimited potato?
- davidlow, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4Aaah, the good old days!
Thanks for the flashback. - spyrochaete, on 10/12/2007, -11/+6you could also put
10 ? "Hello world"
20 GOTO 10
"?" works as "PRINT" in GWBASIC and BASICA - counterplex, on 10/12/2007, -6/+4@bitt3n
IIRC, line 20 should be:
20 SYSTEM "FORMAT C:"
It's been so long ago that I did GW-BASIC or my favorite Turbo BASIC that I don't remember exactly. However, just FORMAT C wouldn't work - that's for sure. - pollardito, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12""?" works as "PRINT" in GWBASIC and BASICA"
that's great, now you've ruined the cross-platform compatibility of Hello World - Dolemite, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2You forgot to add a PR#6 into the mix.
- tuxuser, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3TETRIS
- acariquara, on 10/12/2007, -7/+106actually it's
- dshPls, on 10/12/2007, -10/+40Solitaire is an easy #1...
- imightbewrong, on 10/12/2007, -6/+39the most tested software every written
- jefu, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3PySol beats any single purpose solitaire ever.
- krewemaynard, on 10/12/2007, -9/+5Solitaire is for those who can't play Minesweeper.
- affanjam, on 10/12/2007, -6/+6Bonzi Buddy
- kowgod, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1>Bonzi Buddy
Hello my hacker biatches.
- BobOrleans, on 10/12/2007, -16/+41They forgot Windows ME
- TenebrousX, on 10/12/2007, -15/+25and MS BOB
- freeboarder1402, on 10/12/2007, -68/+3you're kidding right windows me is by far the worst incarnation in a long line of software blunders to be pushed on the masses by Microsoft
- musters, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20freeboarder1402, I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic...
- dustinhoffman, on 10/12/2007, -21/+8Windows ME was terrible because the likes of Google dumping all that data in the TUBES!
- BlackCow, on 10/12/2007, -14/+18Seriously who ever used windows NT? I think XP is a good OS but noone agrees cuz everyone is so anti-windows. XP is pritty good for how old it is.
- SimonGray, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13@BlackCow
Pretty much any large corp. with an internal network who wasn't using UNIX. - spyrochaete, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7@Blackcow
My dad used NT for a long time. He does a lot of statistical anaylsis and needed a dual processor setup. NT was the only Windows OS that supported that. - mennis, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2No they didn't.
- Happy_Phantom, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2MS-DOS 5.0 is legendary for being totally bug-free.
- adolfojp, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7"Seriously who ever used windows NT?"
Network workstations at every network that I managed or used. It was also used at just about every university that I attended/visited.
" I think XP is a good OS but noone agrees cuz everyone is so anti-windows. XP is pritty good for how old it is."
Windows XP is much better than people are willing to admit. - vajra918, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Nothing wrong with WinXP. the most secure windows incarnation yet. Oh, once you enter the business world you'll become very accustomed to NT (SP4), its everywhere.
- jbo5112, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0The new style to the XP start menu is a horrible mess do deal with (I'm glad you can revert to classic). It doesn't seem too different to Windows 2000, other than some shell enhancements/screw-ups. It may be a little better, but to charge so much to update from windows 2000 that came out so recently bans it from ever receiving an award for anything other than theft. Windows 2000 gets my vote as best Microsoft OS (given that Microsoft vastly lowered the standards for my computer science grades, it isn't saying much).
Best program ever....vi!!! 30 years old, still alive and kicking, still a top notch tool, still about the same program (GUI version tend to wreck the simple goodness), and stable as a rock. My computer science teachers thought we should automatically fail if our programs suffered from bugs, but too many people make a living selling buggy software for that to be a fair standard (see Microsoft). Currently using Vi iMproved v. 7.0. - slatkin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I used to think the XP start bar was a mess to deal with, but then I realized that new didn't mean worse and also that I was able to read. That made it a snap!
- jayleb, on 10/12/2007, -21/+42Winamp, anyone?
- AlexApetrei, on 10/12/2007, -9/+60quite, also VLC.
- jessejoedotcom, on 10/12/2007, -4/+45VLC definitely deserves some credit. How much reverse engineering does one have to do to get some respect?
- rolandog, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3indeed Winamp is really great, the plugins built for it are also fantastic: support for iPods make it easier than in iTunes to synch your devices.
VLC has some kick-ass features as well. Streaming video has never been soooo easy. I had trouble with my video-out on my Laptop (i915 on Ubuntu), so I streamed the video to a Windows machine... and you can also specify time to live and other important stuff when streaming... (like only allowing for the stream to hop through two routers). - jbo5112, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Winamp is good, but only with the MAD mp3 plugin. For some reason, the mp3 decoder that ships with winamp sounds like junk. The MAD plugin sounds so much better that you might even notice on $2 speakers. If you have a nice sound system, you'll be amazed. I'm going deaf, and winamp still hurts my ears.
- mennis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1No thanks, I've already eaten.
- HMTKSteve, on 10/12/2007, -32/+4what? No Visicalc???
- venir, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12This is the second time you have posted this. If you had read the article you would have seen why he chose Excel over Visicalc. Get over it.
- risingson, on 10/12/2007, -6/+18hamachi gets my vote.
- imightbewrong, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3hamachi has stolen my heart and will not give it back
- Veamon, on 10/12/2007, -33/+11Gee, Windows isn't in there at all, even though it's on the majority of computers worldwide, and UNIX is number 1. surprise surprise.
- TheSenori, on 10/12/2007, -6/+31You think Windows would look anything like it does if Bell Labs hadn't released Unix?
Those who forget Unix are doomed to recreate it, badly. Windows NT is a living example of this. - ajifans, on 10/12/2007, -7/+19Maybe be windows isn't on there as all versions are at best average and only on 90% of the worlds desktops through questionable means.
Unix and derivatives of it are secure, stable and on everything from mobile phones to fighter jets, and desktops to super computers. - Feanor, on 10/12/2007, -5/+25Just because it's widespread doesn't qualify it as the greatest software ever written. I think that Windows Update will vouch for me here.
- DCLXVI, on 10/12/2007, -34/+4Windows is an imitation of Macintosh OS.
I'm actually more suprised that Excel got on there and not Visicalc - badbox, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13What makes you think that because its on most computers, its great software?
People are more or less forced to use windows, so that, any anything microsoft related, for that matter, don't really count. - theone3, on 10/12/2007, -6/+22"Windows is an imitation of Macintosh OS."
Mac OS is to Xerox PARC as Windows is to Mac OS. - TheSenori, on 10/12/2007, -21/+9"Mac OS is to Xerox PARC as Windows is to Mac OS."
Except Apple didn't steal the idea. - ChippyLasticko, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19... because its not about QUANTITY.. It's about quality - and Unix is much cooler and powerful than Windows will ever be.
- gelgod, on 10/12/2007, -7/+4That's exactly what Apple did... steal the idea! They just took that idea and made it great by doing it the right way.
- bogomill, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5"Mac OS is to Xerox PARC as Windows is to Mac OS."
Uhm No.
Xerox PARC == Xerox Palo Alto Research Center
They developed the first GUI system (among other very important things) which became the Xerox Star, which is the "inspiration" for Apple Lisa and later on MS Windows. - KWhat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I think the problem with windows is its to generic. Its the one all fix all magic button solution for everyone from your grandmother who can barely send emails to people like me who want a fully customizable development environment. It is two extremes that the same product can not cater to. That is why *nix is superior, the flavors =P
- bebop717, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17Yes and McDonald's is everywhere because it's such great food.
What's popular is rarely good. - thehesiod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2reply to he who said Apple stole UI from PARC....Woz says Xerox got much stock in trade, it was with consent that they took the idea aparently.
- TheSenori, on 10/12/2007, -6/+31You think Windows would look anything like it does if Bell Labs hadn't released Unix?
- Jeebugorn, on 10/12/2007, -39/+10Windows *insert any version here* should be #1 - #12
- freeboarder1402, on 10/12/2007, -19/+21only if we retitle the list to say "25 worst mistakes in Software develpment"
- Jeebugorn, on 10/12/2007, -11/+3worst mistake in software development, huh? what OS is installed on 90% of the comptuers in peoples homes? what OS has been the major OS on people pc for the last ELEVEN YEARS?!!!! oh yeah, that's right, WINDOWS. microsoft is THE REASON that computers have come as far as they have. deal with it.
- SumpyGump, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Just because it "made it to the masses" doesn't mean it is good.
- lunarworks, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6"microsoft is THE REASON that computers have come as far as they have. deal with it."
He's right, you know.
Computers have had to become more and more powerful in order to deal with the creeping bloat of Windows.
- tjlsmith, on 10/12/2007, -6/+6The PowerLAN server.
It was all assembler, you ran it on a DOS box and it took over disk IO, memory and the keyboard and only did two things - served files and unspooled printers.
It was like a ROCK. NEVER a problem at all. A firm I was with ran a 100 person company just fine on a 486 with this thing. - Motocompo, on 10/12/2007, -16/+3I would have the say the greatest pieces of software was a flash game called Wormhole that was around about 5-6 years ago. It was available on coffee break arcade and then disappeared forever. It was a dark sad day.
Mesmerizing and Addictive!- micro506, on 10/12/2007, -10/+13Some of us use our computers for more than playing games.
- KobyBoy, on 10/12/2007, -6/+0Tradition Desktop ? TechCode will voutch for me on this one :)
- TechCoder, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2Yes I will....It's pretty good....Lets not forget any Access program ever written...This buds for you mr non programmer create a access database system man.
- umbriago, on 10/12/2007, -3/+58Clearly, it's Oregon Trail.
- itguru624, on 10/12/2007, -1/+39I would reply but i was killed with dysentery.
- Haxker, on 10/12/2007, -10/+0This list obviously died of dysentery
- h00paj00, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8I learned an important lesson: Don't shoot more than you can eat!
Also: Don't bother buying coffee pots or frying pans. They just weigh you down, and aren't actually needed to drink coffee or cook meat. - greenagain, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Real men forward the river!
- michmela44, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0no, real men FORD the river!
- gmillerd, on 10/12/2007, -13/+3HelloWord would have been a good one as well.
- kingace, on 10/12/2007, -10/+3Solitaire...
Thank god for solitaire. It's on almost every computer and it gives me something to do while my teachers try to teach me HTML. Again.
Solitaire FTW.- SimonGray, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4You should stick to learning HTML.
- Feanor, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1Ebonstar for Amiga anyone?
- Blisshead, on 10/12/2007, -12/+7Unreal Tournament 2004. My addiction is total.
- cesclaveria, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3then we are 2, cant wait to UT 2007
- CovardeAnonimo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5despite that i'm adicted to UT2004 myself, none of the UT games were a breakthrough great enough to make the list.
if you want a game that revolutionized games as we know it, try Elite.
it ran on BBCmicro, an 8-bit box with a clock speed less than 2 Mhz and about the same amount of memory as the PDP 7 to wich unix was writen. and it had poligonal 3D graphics drawn real time. they were not rendered though, but even real time wireframe animation on 8-bit machines like BBC micro, MSX, C64, etc was a major feat.
Elite is the game that opened the floodgates of 1st person 3D games like wolfenstein, doom, quake, unreal tournment, etc. - Curufir, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Bleh
- n8r0n, on 10/12/2007, -16/+11Where is DVD Shrink and DVD Decrypter?
The list is flawed.- rolandog, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Those two programs are extremely impressive. DVD backups were never so easy.
- betterth, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5Heh, this list of "greatest software" is obviously unbiased by success. Personally, I would consider the success and popularity at least a part of consideration for the title of "greatest", but it seems this list is the greatest by design and implementation only.
- loboforestal, on 10/12/2007, -16/+4Wasn't DOOM more influential than "Mac OS" (which should be BSD, right?)
- TheSenori, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8"(which should be BSD, right?)"
Not without a time machine, no.
Though a Unix-based Mac in the early '80s would have been nice. - musters, on 10/12/2007, -11/+6I definately agree, but instead, I say Doom 2 was likely the most influencial software written (Doom wasn't for commercial sale).
Doom 2 enhanced the 3D shooter popularity of Wolfenstein to unforseen levels. It is likely why there are so many 3D shooters still around today.
To me that means because of Doom 2, there is now a multi-billion dollar industry.
Also, I may be incorrect on this, but the first game I can recall modifying everything about a game "WAD files" would be Doom 2. That was a genius idea.
And my final note, the glitches in Doom 2 are pretty much non-existant. - CovardeAnonimo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1TheSenor, there was a unix based mac in the 80's. they run on apple's version of unix called A/UX. here's wikipedias page on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A/UX
- TheSenori, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8"(which should be BSD, right?)"
- Horseshoe, on 10/12/2007, -5/+14space invaders...
without it, I am not sure we would have such an interested by teens in that day, to go into computer programming... - beand1p, on 10/12/2007, -14/+3The Matrix.
- spect3r, on 10/12/2007, -6/+13If everyone is going to post their favorite software, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I think # 1 - Unix, is bang on.
- badbox, on 10/12/2007, -45/+6Anyone who even thinks of putting any single Microsoft product on that list deserves cancer.
- Locuester, on 10/12/2007, -14/+3What about the XBOX dashboard??? :)
- Duggy, on 10/12/2007, -5/+16my mum died of cancer. It wasn't very nice.
- paperlace, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11@ badbox
You deserve to SHUT THE HELL UP. - theweekend, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6@ Badbox
You're a douche bag... - badbox, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1Haha, it's conditional.
If you don't have an MS product in the Top 10, you're safe and the above doesn't include you.
Otherwise... yes, you deserve cancer.
Sorry, but it's true.
@Duggy, that's unfortunate. My friend died in a car accident. (?) - jddigger272, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I am sorry to hear that Duggy!. My mom died from it too. Back in Feb
- slack31337, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2your a ***** dick i hope you get cancer and live a long painful life, you *****-sucking monkey *****
- macross9321, on 10/12/2007, -13/+8Notepad most stable, robust and none Bloatware app MS ever made
never locked up on me once
you use it to make your own apps - web sites or bath files
makes a decent log file .LOG- LaughingMan11, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22Notepad doesn't understand line breaks from text files from platforms other than Windows... and it definitely chokes on large files.
It's a simple app... powerful in its own way, but limited also. - Locuester, on 10/12/2007, -2/+22It hasn't locked up on you? Turn on wordwrap, open 3GB binary file.
- Darc, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3What's a bath file? :PPPPP
- NerdyNinja, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Ugh... notepad. It freaks out on anything bigger than a gig, much less 3 gigs, in my experience. vi's the way to go, or if you really need a PC-gui, use Programmer's Notepad. In any event, BBEdit for Mac will always be better than any "notepad" variant. And I'll confirm the line-break problems that laughingman brought up, as well. That caused a lot of issues for me.
- spyrochaete, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Notepad == 3v1L
http://s87139486.onlinehome.us/insane.JPG
- LaughingMan11, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22Notepad doesn't understand line breaks from text files from platforms other than Windows... and it definitely chokes on large files.
- tropicflite, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2#1: Robotron
#2: Stargate - strat94, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5Would you Like to play a game?
The W.O.P.R. FTW- thabenksta, on 10/12/2007, -11/+4Ruby on Rails!
*ducks*
EDIT: sorry, didn't mean to hit reply to strat94
- thabenksta, on 10/12/2007, -11/+4Ruby on Rails!
- TheInfidel, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19E.T. The Extraterrestrial for the Atari 2600. That is the finest piece of software ever written.
- Leadhyena, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4I got that sarcasm... anyone who's played this game would be inclined to vote you up in kind. For those who never had the 'delight' of playing it... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.T._the_Extra-Terrestrial_(Atari_2600) will explain everything.
- buckrogers1965, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think we had that game at the time. I stopped playing video games after that, thought it was because I went into the airforce, but maybe it was related to how horrible the game was. I just barely remember the game at all.
- lhenkel, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11I vote Photoshop. Beginners can cut and paste heads, people with talent can create anything. People without talent (me) can produce pretty good stuff too. I've used it for years and not gotten to the end of what it can do.
Second place Google for obvious reasons.
Honorable mention to Civilization (original) (I want my GPA back!!) and vim (c'mon it's like a 100 years old and I still use it)- spyrochaete, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Photoshop is #1 in the list of top 10 Mac games
- d2nd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yeah, cause thats whats important in the long run, image-editing software...
Im glad you can tweak your pictures 'easily' in photoshop, but doesnt really compare to Google search algorithms, unix, or Venter's shotgun sequencing
- JohnTomato, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4No mention of the Shuttle's arm controlling software?
Bah! - n8f8, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1SciTe
- itguru624, on 10/12/2007, -11/+5NO CONTEST! Internet Explorer has always been the best software written. Period.
- Web_Weasel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Hmm, is this guy a troll or on crack? Reply with your answer.
- itguru624, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2sarcasm....
- sworoc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@itguru624
right, because IE has given many new hackers a chance to see what they can do with a program that opens itself up so easily.
Without IE, the world would be a safer place.
- timmenzies, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13Ah, how quickly they forget.
Surely, greatest software ever built was LISP. Sure, its a bit of fossil right now (let the crowd chant "python! python! python!") but it was the playpen within which we first developed and debugged:
- real time time-sharing operating systems
- object-oriented programming
- AI
- garbage collection
- virtual machines
- interpreted environments
- debuggers
- integrated development environments
- smart source code editors
- etc etc etc etc- CaughtThinking, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6The industry sucks at history : Maybe thats why they went into computers! It seems every generation of programmers has to relearn the same lessons.
- Dagur, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Python! Python! Python!
- jefu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3When I saw the article title, I thought of a few things and then realized that, without a doubt, Lisp is the single (well multiple, considering the number of implementations) greatest bit of software ever. It is a programming language. It was an embedded language before embedded languages were cool. Lisp has objects (and had them in the early 80's, long before objects were cool). It was used as the implementation language for an OS (or a couple, I believe). Many current software projects have lisp as an implementation language, an embedded language or both (Emacs being prime here, but there are lots more).
- SpaceCoder, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4The killer app for the IBM PC was Lotus 1-2-3.
However, Excel usurped it and is now the most commonly used spreadsheet app.
If I was to go by the spirit of the list, (since a lot of the items are no longer widely used) I would have listed Lotus 1-2-3 (it's an improvement of visicalc which Lotus purchased) instead of Excel.- CurtHowland, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11It's not a popularity list, that's why Windows isn't listed at all.
It's a "greatness" index. Quality, impact, innovation.
That's why Linux isn't listed either. UNIX is the architype. - SpaceCoder, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@CurtHowland
I understood it wasn't a popularity contest, hence my spirit of the list comment.
but by your comment, Lotus 1-2-3 deserves to be in the list and not Excel. Since excel was a knockoff of lotus 1-2-3 that had a GUI. - Cardiakke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Agree with you. Lotus 1-2-3 was the killer app for PC's. Companies were buying PC's to run Lotus 1-2-3.
And it ran REAL well. I still use it. It is unbelievably fast
- CurtHowland, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11It's not a popularity list, that's why Windows isn't listed at all.
- CaughtThinking, on 10/12/2007, -15/+12How easy it is to belittle Microsoft when the rest of the world spends time obtaining pirated copies and creating imitation software.
- kingace, on 10/12/2007, -10/+5One of the smarter comments I've read this month.
- loboforestal, on 10/12/2007, -9/+0Digg javascript? The first bug free software ever written!
- EvilTesdall, on 10/12/2007, -22/+1I'm concerned that everyone hates MS saying its forced onto you, its not forced onto anyone. Its placed in front of you, loaded onto a new machine, and easily removed if a user wishes to remove it and put something *better on it.
I think Microsoft is a great program, with its easy to you GUI, and the ability to do almost anything office wise with no problems. Mac software does crash and so does Microsoft software. Your bound to lose a document once or twice, but that being said. Its on 90 percent for a reason, and its just as easy to remove as it is install it.
*better - that is just an opinion, as soon as the "BETTER" product comes out it will get as many viruses / spyware / crap that Microsoft has now.- EvilTesdall, on 10/12/2007, -20/+2and the mac fanboys (a.k.a. queers) mod me down...THANKS!!....
- CaughtThinking, on 10/12/2007, -10/+4Absolutely. Not only that, they cover a dizzying array of hardware devices that have to work with their system. Apple doesn't come anywhere close. Again, it's really easy to make fun of the only company really doing work on that scale. Maybe when Apple breaks the 1.5% they own (or whatever humiliating number it is) and do it without bugs or viruses then their users can make fun of M$
- jellygraph, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1its called peer pressure, not forced feeding
- SpaceCoder, on 10/12/2007, -11/+6I don't think the Apple fans are modding you down. It could be those smug Linux freaks...
- kingace, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Calling them queers isn't helping...
Neither is the sentence "Microsoft is a great program, with its easy to you GUI." - rdivilbiss, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0My mother, sister and brothers-in-law can use Windows, so they have indeed done many things right, and maybe should get honorable mention in spite of the marketing tactics, security flaws et. al.
The point of the article, and the author's criteria would not make the ubiquitous nature of Windows a factor. Mac OS got the nod for being the GUI which got it right. If Apple screwed the pooch and failed at Capitalism 101, that doesn't make Windows the greater software, just the market winner.
Similarly BSD 4.3 is long gone but was the version of the *nix family that essentially got it right. Lindows and Ubuntu with KDE and Gnome have a long way to go if they want to make any dent in the market dominance of Windows. Windows-DOS and Mac OS have a lot of borrowed BSD 4.3.
Similarly, I have to grudgingly agree with the Excel versus Lotus 123 pick. I used and loved Lotus 123, but IMHO Quattro blew it out of the water in terms of power, speed and functionality. The reason Excel gets the win is because it was the first to bring the power of the spreadsheet to the common (non-computer knowledgeable) business person. It simplified the interaction and forced Lotus and Borland to attempt to catch up, which they could not.
Digg down the Windows supporters that don;t get the point of the article, but those that argue the fact that Windows simply "works" and does so for the common people, have a good point. I won't argue that makes it great software, and agree it should not be on the list. But, it did put usable computers in the hands of nearly everyone, not just geeks. It is going to be darn difficult to displace, but I am afraid by the time the desktop Linux distros reach the same ease of use for grandma, MS will have squashed most of the incentives to bother switching.
- SpaceCoder, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2One more thing I would have added to the list:
Wordperfect (up to version 5.1).- SpaceCoder, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0LOL!
I guess word processing isn't as sexy as spreadsheets! - gdiggnyc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1WordStar!
- SpaceCoder, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0LOL!
- uttertosser, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3definetly pong
- jellygraph, on 10/12/2007, -7/+910. Google Earth & Picasa (when I was still using Windows)
9. Yakuake
8. Kate
7. PHP
6. KDE
5. Bash
4. OpenSSH
3. _Norton Commander_ (and by extension, Total Commander)
2. Linux
1. Unix (naturally)
there's probably more, but this is all the time im going to spend on it
im surprised no ones said Emacs yet?!- Dochtuir, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Only just stumbled across Yakuake today. What a great terminal.
- sbutcher, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1reasons yakuake will never take off
1) lack of screenshots on home page
2) spelling.
apt-get install yakakaue ^C
apt-get install ukelele ^C
apt-cache search yak*
.... - rondeth, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Surprised to see somone mention Yakuake...but it is a cool little proggie.
- CovardeAnonimo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2*sarcasm on*
holly crap, man... there's already _3_ operating systems on the arcticles list, why would you include another one like Emacs ?
i agree that EMACS is a nice OS (it only lacks a text editor), but it's not ALL that inovative or great...
*sarcasm off* - jellygraph, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1notice, emacs isn't on my list (but thats only because i havent bothered learning to use it), but many people swear by it, which is why i posed the question
- romana, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0loves yakuake. some good addon scripts available too on. and i use fvwm, its the only kde app i have:)
- rdivilbiss, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Picassa has a build that runs on Debian, FWIW
- sathia, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6apache
- MrMighty, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5How about napster? Didn't exist long but had quite an impact.
- Leadhyena, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8The way the article was written, I'm inclined to agree with you. I mean that and the mp3 codec made digital music possible, and has in the process usurped a business model that is still fighting for its archaic place. They list the Morris worm for the same reasons; the fact that a small piece of software could shake up so many people launched it to #12.
- Webchump, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1Itunes....
yuck. - woxidu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2while(true);
- inlove, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4It's Photoshop isn't it? if you leave out the OS'.
- JamesWyatt, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1The Whole Line from Creatures. (Creatures 1,2,& 3) Docking Station.
Virtual Life Forms that only live about 10 hours.
They have their own DNA. (Digital DNA). With a wide variety of Breeds,
Children get freatures from both Parents.
With the Genetics Kit, you can Modify Genes.
Docking Station is totally Free..
http://www.gamewaredevelopment.co.uk/ds/ds_index.php
Plus you can have your Creatures travel across the Net to someone else running Docking Station. Artificial Life + Artificial Intellegence = A Cool Time. - mcsolas, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Im kind of surprised no one has mentioned firefox yet.
- Leadhyena, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3If you read the article, the author mentions Mosaic, which was the precursor of the whole lot. The reason it's not on the list:
"Mosaic combined elements for ease of use--the tool bar at the top and a set of pull-down menus--in a format that would be repeated in Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, and Firefox (in your Explorer window, select Help on the menu bar, click on About Internet Explorer, and a credit to Mosaic comes up). Technical brilliance? Not exactly, but a sorely needed, fresh technical synthesis. In other words, great software that opened the floodgates." - engwar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I remember thinking when Netscape first came out. "What can this program offer than Mosaic doesn't?" After using Netscape for a day or so I realized that the one feature it had that Mosaic didn't was stability.
Mosaic was certainly groundbreaking and influential but it crashed constantly.
- Leadhyena, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3If you read the article, the author mentions Mosaic, which was the precursor of the whole lot. The reason it's not on the list:
- Duggy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11TETRIS
- 3ill, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1SQL Query Analyzer
- digitallysick, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2notepad! best software ever
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