Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 14:17:17 -0700 (MST) From: Terry Lambert <terry@lambert.org> To: nate@mt.sri.com (Nate Williams) Cc: dennis@etinc.com, jkh@time.cdrom.com, freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Price of FreeBSD (was On Holy Wars...) Message-ID: <199704182117.OAA02823@phaeton.artisoft.com> In-Reply-To: <199704181522.JAA21382@rocky.mt.sri.com> from "Nate Williams" at Apr 18, 97 09:22:36 am
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> All > attempts to let us know *IF* our bugs are fixed, whether or not new > features that exist in other vendors products, and anything that will > help us to make decisions are not told. > > This is *common* with all organizations, at least with FreeBSD you get > *hints* as to what's coming down the pike by looking at commit messages, > with commercial companies you cross your fingers and hope for the best. The commercial organizations I've dealt with (and in) must schedule for "minimal feature set", "expected feature set", and then "stretch goals" over and above that. What actually goes out depends on the test cycle process, and the quota on Sev 2 bugs with install/data-file workarounds and Sev 3 bugs with workarounds. Generally, as test cycles are compressed, quotas go up. If a "minimal feature" causes a Sev 1 (product unusable), and it was not in the previous release, then it gets canned. Testing is usually, if anything, rushed, so there is no way they can reasonably commit to any feature set other than that of the previous product. Short of adopting quality assurance practices and accepting schedule slip (and the people who set the schedule are driven by the semianual performance review -- or the quarterly report, if the company is "downsized" enough that those people have the ability to damage engineering). If they told you it was supposed to be fixed in the next product, and then it wasn't, you'd scream blue murder. If they told you it was fixed in the next product, and then delayed the promised ship date, you'd scream blue murder. You can have a feature set, or you can have a date, but you can't have both, and a date will keep the stock price up. Regards, Terry Lambert terry@lambert.org --- Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present or previous employers.
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