Most embarasssing error (was Finding errors in manuals)

[Ned Bedinger]

I once created a software tool to help me in creating back of book 
indexes. I thought it worked pretty well, so I created an installer and 
announced my program as a free beta on index-l. Several early adopters 
downloaded it and installed it on their WORK machines. Sadly for them, 
the installer was primitive--it put the necessary files in the correct 
locations on their hard drives, but didn't check whether a newer version 
of the file was already installed. Dam Ned! The installer overwrote 
their Windows 98 DLLs with my Windows 95 DLLs. It <sob> completely hosed 
their Win 98 and their MS Office applications.

OMG, I'll never forget the hot and cold running shame of it. It was 
horrifying to get those distressed phone calls, to be the one 
responsible for trashing so many working indexers' PCs. Still, it had 
one redeeming quality for me: it was thrilling to be at the center of a 
real software development cycle--the spotlight is a huge aide in 
ferreting out the ways in which my process had room for improvement. The 
app itself had potential and worked. So I fixed the installer and 
re-offer it, but no one would touch it with a ten-foot pole after the 
fiasco that was its first release.

The moral of the story is that when everything goes right and looks 
easy, it is probably because the people behind it have been through the 
wringer at the School of Hard Knocks in getting it to that point. Tech 
writers know this already--every day is a tough series of linguistic 
outpouring and endless fine tunings to turn mad jumbles of information 
into smoothed, massaged manuals that are easy and complete for the 
users. That we ever get the job done is a miracle, a mystery, a 
testimony to our dedication. OMG2, it is so much harder than programming!


Ned "Did you try reinstalling Windows and Office yet?" Bedinger
doc at edwordsmith.com