On Thu, Dec 19, 2019 at 6:24 PM Gregory Nutt <spudan...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> ] A bad build system change can cause serious problems for a lot of people around the world. A bad change in the core OS can destroy the good reputation of the OS. > > Why is this the case? Users should not be using unreleased code or be encouraged to use it.. If they are one solution is to make more frequent releases. > I don't think that the number of releases is the factor. It is time in > people's hand. Subtle corruption of OS real time behavior is not easily > testing. You normally have to specially instrument the software and > setup a special test environment perhaps with a logic analyzer to detect > these errors. Errors in the core OS can persists for months and in at > least one case I am aware of, years, until some sets up the correct > instrumented test.
And: On Thu, Dec 19, 2019 at 4:20 PM Justin Mclean <jus...@classsoftware.com> wrote: > > ] A bad build system change can cause serious problems for a lot of people around the world. A bad change in the core OS can destroy the good reputation of the OS. > > Why is this the case? Users should not be using unreleased code or be encouraged to use it.. If they are one solution is to make more frequent releases. Many users are only using released code. However, whatever is in "master" eventually gets released. So if problems creep in unnoticed, downstream users will be affected. It is only delayed. I can personally attest that those kinds of errors are extremely difficult to detect and trace. It does require a special setup with logic analyzer or oscilloscope, and sometimes other tools, not to mention a whole setup to produce the right stimuli, several pieces of software that may have to be written specifically for the test.... I have been wracking my brain on and off thinking about how we could set up an automated test system to find errors related to timing etc. Unfortunately unlike ordinary software for which you can write an automated test suite, this sort of embedded RTOS will need specialized hardware to conduct the tests. That's a subject for another thread and i don't know if now is the time, but I will post my thoughts eventually. Nathan
