It should be noted that no ethically-trained software engineer would ever consent to write a DestroyBaghdad procedure. Basic professional ethics would instead require him to write a DestroyCity procedure, to which Baghdad could be given as a parameter.

— Nathaniel Borenstein, Computational Mail as Network Infrastructure for Computer-Supported Cooperative Work

Source: http://www.guppylake.com/~nsb/CSCW-ATOMICMAIL.txt

A footnote in his paper on computational mail as network infrastructure.

Topics: software engineering