"We want people to view software as being far more organic, far more malleable, and something that you have to be prepared to interact with to improve all the time." - Dave Thomas
The entropy of a software system increases over time unless specific work is done to maintain and improve it.
As soon as code is checked into CVS it needs to be maintained.
Code should be continuosly updated to keep up with and enable change.
Don't live with broken windows, neglect accelerates entropy.
If there isn't time to fix the broken windows, board them up, take some action to prevent further software rot.
Joel Test #5: Do you fix bugs before writing new code?