25 Aug
2010
25 Aug
'10
4:13 p.m.
On Wed, 25 Aug 2010, Eric Smith wrote:
Had we found any problem analogous to that in the
PDP-1 restoration,
where the machine operated correctly despite a manufacturing defect, I'm
sure we would have had a debate on whether to fix it. I think my own
opinion in that case would be that we should leave it alone, but tag the
module (paper tag attached with a short loop of string) and document the
issue in the system logbook.
In the example that I mentioned of an IBM MDA board, it worked for about
10 years, and then became intermittent. Even that, I would NOT consider
to be "operates correctly", as the particular defect IS a defect, and may
eventually bring the system down.