Wouldn’t that be akin to adding new features? Adding support for previously unsupported (due to their lack of existance) hardware is a feature imo.
Besides, while a program may eventually be bug-free, no modern computer has flawless hardware so creating a large program without bugs will always remain a thought experiment.
The only possible reason to do it would be if an alien civilization were to demand producing such a program or else they’d destroy Earth (similar to Erdős’s thought experiment with finding Ramsey numbers). Perhaps with all of humanity’s resources and a few decades this could be done.
Absolutely, I was thinking more along the lines of focusing solely on bug-fixing.
Then you still won’t fix all the bugs. Time is your enemy, and new hardware and its requirements will introduce their own bugs.
Wouldn’t that be akin to adding new features? Adding support for previously unsupported (due to their lack of existance) hardware is a feature imo.
Besides, while a program may eventually be bug-free, no modern computer has flawless hardware so creating a large program without bugs will always remain a thought experiment.
The only possible reason to do it would be if an alien civilization were to demand producing such a program or else they’d destroy Earth (similar to Erdős’s thought experiment with finding Ramsey numbers). Perhaps with all of humanity’s resources and a few decades this could be done.