Item 12 on 21 Rules of Thumb – How Microsoft develops its Software, a Microsoft developer's list of rules of great software design:
“Portability is for canoes.”
Figures. Indeed, verges on abuse of a dominant position?
It's also sort of interesting to compare this list to legal task organization, for example large-team litigation. Some of the rules work perfectly, some are irrelevant.
The first rule should certainly be engraved on every lawyer's heart, and is something I always make a point of telling my students in every class I teach:
It is essential not to profess to know, or seem to know, or accept that someone else knows, that which is unknown. Almost without exception, the things that end up coming back to haunt you are things you pretended to understand but didn’t early on.
