Peter G. Neumann (1994) Computer-Related Risks. p. 316
“

John Gall's Systemantics: How Systems Work and Especially How They Fail has several suggestions from 1975 that are still relevant here: • In general, systems work poorly or not at all. • New system mean new problems. • Complex systems usually operate in failure mode • When a fail-safe system fails, it fails by failing to fail safe.

— Peter G. Neumann

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "John Gall's Systemantics: How Systems Work and Especially How They Fail has several suggestions from 1975 that are still relevant here: • In general, systems work poorly or not at all. • New system mean new problems. • Complex systems usually operate in failure mode • When a fail-safe system fails, it fails by failing to fail safe." in the context of "Peter G. Neumann (1994) Computer-Related Risks. p. 316" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "John Gall" (Quotes about John Gall) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
John Gall

About John Gall

John Gall (September 18, 1925 - December 15, 2014) was an American pediatrician, known for his 1975 book General systemantics.