Scott McNealy Quotes

One of the most feared expressions in modern times is 'The computer is down.'

How could this Y2K be a problem in a country where we have Intel and Microsoft?

I think that all services will have downtime. No matter how much you prepare, have redundant systems, or audit, there will periodically be a black swan event that is completely unlike whatever you've experienced before. It even happens to Google!

Whether it's watching a $4,000 laptop fall off the conveyor belt at airport security, contending with a software conflict that corrupted your file management system, or begging your family to stop opening those virus-carrying 'greeting cards' attached to emails, all computer owners are highly leveraged and highly vulnerable technology investors.

The cloud computing model may be a wonderful system when it works, but it's a nightmare when it fails. And the more people who come to depend upon it, the bigger the nightmare.

A long time ago, we had to build interfaces to connect with other companies, and I thought that was a great idea. The company had to pay a lot of money to build it and basically launched it, but our whole operating system almost broke. So, we couldn't continue it. In the end, I had to go on the train to Paris to explain that I had spent millions.

Technically, Windows is an "operating system," which means that it supplies your computer with the basic commands that it needs to suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, stop operating.

Not only is UNIX dead, it's starting to smell really bad.

A computer chatted to itself in alarm as it noticed an airlock open and close itself for no apparent reason. This was because Reason was in fact out to lunch.

Divide by cucumber error. Please reinstall universe and reboot.

The Y2K problem is not caused by technical limitations. We simply forgot to think of the problem.

I think that the economy, and the political system, has literally become such a disaster I don't know if it's possible to save it.

There are security risks not only from information falling into the wrong hands, but also from information failing to find its way into the right hands. The government’s current approach to protecting classified information does not recognize this risk from failing to share

Complex systems work until the day that they don’t work.

Our democratic belief that anyone can be a political leader paradoxically feeds into the anti-democratic belief that we should look to one person to quickly and easily save us. No one, alone, can fix it, and in our system of government, this authoritarian approach is a prescription for catastrophe.

A leak is an unauthorized disclosure of classified or sensitive information that is improper under any circumstance.

Leaks are always bad news.

There is no secure data center in the world; they have all been broken into. We can help you prepare for it and minimize the damage when it does occur.

I think we could very easily suffer a seriously catastrophic cyber event.

I've worked on products where they go down in the middle of the night, and no one notices. You get the 'site down' notice, but it doesn't matter.

In thinking back to when we had our big glitch, I remember seeing it get light outside the window. We were in the clouds; I'm pretty sure we got hit by lightning.

When computer systems cause errors, you can end up with The Dreaded NIGO - the 'not in good order' transaction.

The truth is, your identity already has been stolen.

I don't know how to back up.

When you have a system that increases border security funding by about 300 percent, and it only increases funding for immigration courts by 70 percent, you have a disaster.