Progress v1: Is Perfectionism the worst enemy of Progress?

[This is the first entry in a series that deals with the notion of Progress. There will be more. I promise.]

Most of us grew up with the notion, that the world is moving forward. Developing. Progressing.
Progress is good. New developments are good. Good for business, good for our living standard.

Software, too, is progressing. Ever new development models, languages and components are invented. Software is built on those. Software is built out of that software. And then rebuilt, using newer components, because newer is better. And then rebuilt again, using still newer components. And then...

Oh wait. Is that still progress we are talking about?

I don't know about other software developers, but I have, from time to time, met the point, where I have built a large and complex piece of software with the resources and tools I had available at the point, and it took me so long to develop that by the time I was done, it was technically obsolete because now there were newer tools and resources I could have used.

Now, the piece of software is done. Theoretically, I could sell it. Or, because I am a perfectionist, I could re-build it using the newer technologies. But by the time I'm done rebuilding it, there will be even newer tools and resources... Should I sell it then, or should I re-build it using those?

Or rather...
- am I ever going to be done with it and sell it?
And a corollary:
- does perfect and up-to-date software really exist, and who makes it?

Cheers,

Your Fly

And next time we are going to look at what the industry does with Progress. Because, well, industry isn't perfect ;-)