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Approaches to Ultra-Long Software Maintenance

623 views · Published 4 April 2017 · 50:41 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: The Linux Foundation · 2017 · Science & Technology

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Approaches to Ultra-Long Software Maintenance - Wolfgang Mauerer, Technical University Regensburg/Siemens AG

Mobile phones last for months before turning obsolete these days. Planes, trains, or power stations, to name a few, face possible lifespans of ten, twenty or even more years. Increasing amounts of open source software create commonalities between IT and industrial domains.

Drastic differences in innovation cycles translate into problems in software maintenance, but the long-term aspects also raise questions like how to ensure reproducibility of development environments over decades, or how to deal with product lines caused by hardware changes.

We discuss technological strategies for various different maintenance and architectural objectives, and evaluate approaches that are commonly used in industry. We highlight benefits and drawbacks of different technologies, and argue how processual approaches can help OSS communities and industrial users to better align their needs.

About Wolfgang Mauerer

Wolfgang Mauerer is a senior key expert at Siemens Corporate Research, Corporate Competence Centre Embedded Linux, where he deals with establishing Linux in innovative and demanding industrial areas. He also serves as professor of theoretical computer science at the Technical University Regensburg, and is a member of the technical board of the Linux Foundation's newly founded civil infrastructure platform. His academic research deals with finding links between technical and social aspects of software development. His speaking experience includes ELC, ABS, ELCE, and many other industrial and scientific conferences.

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