Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!uunet!viusys!uxui!unislc!thayne
From: thayne@unislc.uucp (Thayne Forbes)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Unlimited software warranties
Message-ID: <1991Mar25.171643.3461@unislc.uucp>
Date: 25 Mar 91 17:16:43 GMT
Article-I.D.: unislc.1991Mar25.171643.3461
References: <1991Mar12.015256.16098@ico.isc.com> <8024@rsiatl.Dixie.Com> <1991Mar13.021244.2538@ico.isc.com> <1991Mar16.171033.380@am.sublink.org>
Organization: unisys
Lines: 32

alex@am.sublink.org (Alex Martelli) writes:
>I agree with Dick Dunn's lament on c.u.sysv386 - there is a "feature
>frenzy" around, products are sold mostly on feechurs, secondly on
>time-to-market, thirdly on price, and QUALITY just does not seem to be
>on the list.  
I don't profess to be any kind of authority on this, because my experience
has been somewhat under protest.  However, allow me to espouse a trite
philosophy that I believe is original. (If not, someone point me to a
reference).  That is:  Software evolves into the product that is being
tested in QA.  I was stuck at a vendor sight for several months testing a
product that 'they' thought was ready to go any day now.  I consistently
found bugs that they had never seen (4-5 a day).  And the telling response
was "Well why would anyone want to do that"

>What can be done about it?  I believe there is a whole shift in emphasis
>needed throughout the market: magazines and consulting organization 
>should put benchmarks and feechur-lists into the second tier and start
>ferreting around for BUGS; 

That was part of the problem with this product.  Our customer (DoD) had
already decided what the features were going to be, and our vendor had
the attitude that all they had to do was meet that criterion.  And meet
it on schedule.  And without spending so much time that they lost all
their profit on our prearranged price/unit.  Do you see how quality got
to be fourth on their list??

Thayne Forbes  (Unisys, Salt Lake City, Ut)
thayne@unislc.UUCP || {att, hpda, sun, uplherc}!unislc!thayne || (801) 594-4826
-- 

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
# The opinions expressed above are my wife's, but she said I could use them.