Re: Is testing model flawed?
On Fri, 29 May 1998, Lindsay Allen wrote:
> As I see it, the testing team has an impossible job. It hopes to test
> each and every package, but the magnitude of the job far outweighs the
> resources available.
I have no intensions of having the testing team test ever available
package. We are on the required stuff now, and if we have time, we will
move toward standard stuff. Package testing is only part of our work, we
also test upgrades and fresh installs. When all the release critical bugs
are taken care of, and there are no major problems with the install disk
or upgrade methods reported, I will ask for a go/no go from the testers
and let Brian know I think it's ready. The only reason we are still
chugging at this point is because of the release critical bug list.
> In my case, I have the interest, but not the knowledge, to do a good job.
> To be able to say "this package has no bugs" will require someone who
> knows in depth not only exactly how the package is supposed to work, but
> also to know how it fits in with a myriad other packages and with the
> kernel itself. Well, that rubs me out.
We don't have to be perfect. I'm seaking an improvement over the last
testing cycle which basically said: I tried to install a bunch of packages
and dpkg didn't give any bad errors. There are lots of other users and
developers out there, I am just trying to get some attention to as many
packages and executables within those packages as possible. It's easy for
a package to make it into stable when half of the programs in it have
never been used.
> As an example of the problem, I read today on Brandon's web page, that
> sysvinit_2.75-1 was tested and passed. But I also read on the list where
> there is a problem with the database (wtmp?) which shows up with "last."
> So here we have a tested package which turns out to be flawed. And please
> note that I am not pointing the finger here - I missed that problem too.
Like I mentioned above, we can't be perfect. The system booted, there was
at last some attention given to this package above "dpkg didn't give any
errors when installing it".
> So assuming that I am correct, where do we go from here?
Remainder snipped.
I'm always open for suggestions and comments,
Brandon
http://bhmit1.home.ml.org/deb/
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