While I mostly agree with this, I think over time you can see some reasons for re-write. Two of the errors used as examples as bug fixes may no longer be relevant with current hardware progress. "Another one fixes that bug that occurs in low memory conditions. Another one fixes that bug that occurred when the file is on a floppy disk and the user yanks out the disk in the middle."
Were the low memory issues due to the limitations of current hardware at the time and no longer relevant? Do many computers still have floppy disks, and would you still want to have to support that?
I think re-writes should be avoided unless you have a full understanding of the reasons for all the one-off patches. You should also have an idea of what you will lose/gain by getting rid of them.
Were the low memory issues due to the limitations of current hardware at the time and no longer relevant? Do many computers still have floppy disks, and would you still want to have to support that?
I think re-writes should be avoided unless you have a full understanding of the reasons for all the one-off patches. You should also have an idea of what you will lose/gain by getting rid of them.