Re: STAC on OR-HS (fwd)
clemdog@marshallnet.com
Sun, 31 Aug 1997 05:43:13 +0000
Which is why most vendors have what they call beta testers. Real
life in the field people with real scenarios to test it before it
gets released to the whole userbase. This seems to get most obvious
bugs worked out without everyone having to suffer. A beta tester
understands that what they are using may have problems and volunteers
to help work them out by reporting their findings.
IMHO, Livingston needs to get a list of different equipment on a
given configuration and have beta sites to try and cover a broad area
of configurations and so forth. Then try to talk these specific
sites into being a beta site to test new releases and save the
headache of everyone complaining about things. Prime example is
nobody ever having tested a PM3 on an Analog switch, so I get
answers of, " I don't know" quite frequently. Those answers are not
ones I want. So hence I get to learn the hard way about problems.
> You can't test every feature in every build - period. No one does that.
> You'd never have a release. Everything was ok in the test builds. Things
> were rolled up, and the build was made. A typo got in. Shit happens.
>
> Every time you make a build you can't go back and test every last feature,
> let alone every combination. Even with automation it just can't be done.
> Well, it CAN be - but not if you want to stay in business and release
> anything on a realistic time scale. If a feature works and you don't mess
> with it, you have to presume it still works in the next. Nothing was
> messed with in the code, it was just a human error doing the build.
>
> It would be as ridiculous as those who want us to test the PM-3 with
> every modem out there, or even just every Sportster. Not realistic in the
> least.
>
> Anyone with development experience understands this.
>
Jon Clemons