Dan Bricklin has an interesting essay on the need for Software That Lasts 200 Years. Among his criteria for what he calls Societal Infrastructure Software:

• Meet the functional requirements of the task.
• Robustness and long-term stability and security.
• Transparency to determine when changes are needed and that undesired functions are not being performed.
• Verifiable trustworthiness of all three of the above.
• Ease and low cost of training for effective use.
• Ease and low cost of maintenance.
• Minimization of maintenance.
• Ease and low cost of modification.
• Ease of replacement.
• Compatibility and ease of integration with other applications.
• Long-term availability of individuals able to train, maintain, modify, determine need for changes, etc.