Z:gnu-www-ja-software-patents--ab86f6-Why is software on that extrem/en

Why is software on that extreme of the spectrum? The reason is that in software we are developing idealized mathematical objects. You can build a complicated castle and have it rest on a thin line and it will stay up because it doesn't weigh anything. In other fields, people have to cope with the perversity of matter&mdash;of physical objects. Matter does what it is going to do. You can try to model it and if the actual behavior doesn't fit the model then tough on you, because the challenge is to make physical objects that really work.