( "a" != "b" ) == TRUE
( "b" != "a" ) == TRUE

but they don't.

Code:
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
cout << (int)('a' != 'b') << endl;
cout << (int)('b' != 'a') << endl;
return 0;
}

Result:
1
1

Well, we'll let the Lindens decide I suppose

A != operator used on character arrays in C++ would just compare the pointers and would always return false (assuming the compiler hadn't optimized the constant strings). To compare character arrays in C++ you use strcmp, which is what the LSL VM does (it was written in C++). strcmp is part of the ANSI C standard.

"Fixing" this would break existing code.

One should treat the EQUALITY and INEQUALITY operator as the way the operations of EQUALITY are defined, with the only valid outcomes being TRUE (1) and FALSE (0).

Motivation:
1) The operators != and == are operations of equality and either two objects are equal or they are not equal there are only two logical outcomes, TRUE and FALSE. Mathematics and logic agree with me here.

2) The operators != and == are per definition NOT string comparsion (C::strcmp) operators in any other language.

3) The behavior is inconsistent with the other types' operators, most specifically this is utter nonsense:
The comparsion ( "1" != "2" ) == ( 1 != 2 ) is FALSE. While ( (integer)("1") != (integer)("2")) == (1 != 2) is TRUE.

4) In the lack of a C++ expression like this:
value = (expression ? value if true : value if false);

One might want to replace
if( a == b ){
value = 1;
}
else{
value = -1;
}

with:
value = 1 - 2*( a != b);

Which won't work reliably with the current definition of the string operator.

Correction to above "semi C+" example. The correct way to do it (in C+) is:

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
int main(int argc, char* argv[] ){
string one = "1";
string two = "2";
cout<< (int)(one != two) <<endl;
}

Which will indeed print 1as one would expect.

Proposed solution:
1) Change behavior of == and != of strings to be an equality comparsion, returning only TRUE(1) or FALSE(0)
2) Introduce a new function named llStrCmp(string a, string b) that functions like strcmp from C.