On Thu, Dec 21, 2000 at 11:53:50AM -0600, Peter Seebach wrote:
> In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "SteveB" writes:
> >In the open source
> >world is there a official QA process or group. Is there a FreeBSD
> >test suite that releases go through. QA is unglamorous work, but
> >needs to be done.
>
> I don't know about the "official" process, but I will tell you that I'd
> rather have my life depend on FreeBSD-current than on Windows NT, despite
> the "QA cycle".
> There are many ways to do effective QA.
Yup. I think the important point here is that the formal QA cycle is a
means to an end, but it's not the only way to achieve that end.
I get concerned that those who point to a lack of a QA cycle in open
source software are missing the point entirely: They're focussing on
the 'process' they're familiar with so much that they don't seem to
acknowledge that alternative approaches can demonstrate similar results.
At the end of the day, the track record of major open-source projects
speaks for itself: Yes, there are bugs, but there are bugs in commercial
software which is shaped and bounded by QA procedures as well. Overall,
though, I'd hazard a guess that open-source software is generally more
reliable (it is in my experience, anyway).
- mark
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