Software Engineering Philosophy on Efficiency

Excrept from Expect FAQ.(http://expect.nist.gov/FAQ.html)

Are there any hidden dangers in using Expect?

From: Charlton Henry Harrison 
To: libes@NIST.GOV
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 1995 23:30:56 -0600

>>>Dear Don:
>>>
>>> I've been a fan of Expect ever since I first learned of UNIX back
>>>in late '93. I'm young and don't have my CS degree just yet, but I worked
>>>a while back at Texas Instruments in their Telecom Customer Support dept.
>>>I started in late '93 (and hence, that's where I first started exploring
>>>the UNIX environment) and immediately forsaw the need of automating a lot
>>>of my redundant and mindless duties, but I didn't know how since we were
>>>working over a heterogeneous LAN with multiple OSs.
>>> Then I found out about Expect. I automated everything! My boss didn't
>>>like hearing that I was working on something else in order to get out of
>>>work, and I got tired of explaining it to him.
>>> Although I accomplished all the aspects of my duties, I was infamous
>>>for being the laziest person at work, and it showed (I made my job SO easy).
>>>I got a new boss after a while, and he hated me from the start and fired
>>>me soon after. Oh well, I guess my mentality didn't click with theirs.
>>> There are a lot of people like that: they believe life is putting
>>>in a hard day's work to get by. I hate that.
>>> So the point is, thank you for the wonderful 'Expect'. I bought
>>>your book and now I have the most recent version of it on my Linux system
>>>at home. Needless to say I'm looking for another job, though.
>>>
>>>       Charlton
>>>
>> Thanks very much for your nice letter.  Sorry to hear about your
>> automating yourself out of a job.  Actually, I think most computer
>> scientists have to face this dilemma.  In some ways, it's a
>> self-defeating occupation.
>>
>> Don
>
>Yeah, I'd be interested in hearing if you have a personal philosophy on
>how to handle this kind of thing. I plan on pursuing a career in Artificial
>Intelligence for similar reason of making life easier for everyone (me
>in particular!)  What the future holds in this category is a great
>mystery.

I'm glad you asked. My personal philosophy on this kind of thing is: Find someone really rich and marry them.

Don