Subject: The Pentium Bug

From: [email-masked] (Subhas Chakravorty)
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 1994 10:00:25 -0500

It is curious to find that a number of researchers from respectable 
organisations are coming to the defense of a lost cause. The Pentium
processor performs incorrect arithmatic  "sometimes". Considering
that several floating point operations are performed per second
what is the guarantee that it at least one bug doesnt occur during
a calculation which ranges between O(1) to O(N^4) sec,mins,hrs.
Running a specific input for a specific program and producing 
a specific output that matches with that produced by another computer
is a hilarious example of an ostrich with its head buried in the sand.
Of course there have been a number of computer manufacturers with buggy
software and hardware in the past and in the present. If the user only
knows that he purchased or uses an "incorrect calculator" he/she would
get rid of it in a hurry, which I want to do with my P-90 which I use
very sparingly. Being unaware of a bug in a a product is okay but
to defend a bug seems a bit ridiculous, at least to me.
Sorry for the outburst.
Subhas Chakravorty