Software errors (Was: problem connecting to corporate LAN)

[Reinhold Rumberger]

On Sunday 23 May 2010, Mark Greenwood wrote:
> On Sunday 23 May 2010 12:07:02 Reinhold Rumberger wrote:
> > On Sunday 23 May 2010, Mark Greenwood wrote:
> > > This is Linux. Any one of a million things could have changed.
> > > It's the downside of open source development that things just
> > > break from time to time.
> > 
> > So, this doesn't happen on Win or Macs? Seriously, this happens
> > in all areas of development because the systems are way too
> > complex to be able to test/think of everything that might go
> > wrong.
> 
> I'm not criticising, just saying it's an inevitability. I
> understand the complexities of software testing only too well.

I got that. You were just making it sound a little too much like the 
problem was unique to the Linux world for my taste.

> The difference with Windows or Macintosh is they have a lot more
> money to throw at testing,

You'd think so, but it sure doesn't seam like it sometimes.

> and a lot more central control over
> the development process of the code that goes into an OS release,

That is just plain wrong. The distributors have as much control as 
they want, due to the open nature of the code. In fact, go ask the 
kernel devs how many distros they know that don't patch their 
software... ;-)

> as well as the fact that third party apps are the responsibility
> of third parties, who also do their own testing.
> 
> Uniquely with Linux, every single application is "released" by the
> Linux distro. They actually have more testing to do than MS or
> Apple, with about a millionth of the resources. The collaborative
> and open nature of Linux development allows person one to go off
> and change his library code as and when he pleases. Whether
> person 2 who is using that library in his application actually
> updates his application in time for Kubuntu's LTS release is up
> to person 2, not Kubuntu.

As explained above, they are free to apply any patches they please. 
Sometimes distros even have errors removed that are still present in 
the original software...

> Updates are frequent, collaboration is
> wide-ranging and flexible, and the number of potential pitfalls
> and incompatabilities is simply vast when compared to the
> uncollaborative closed-source world where app developers work in
> a vacuum with a pretty much stable (in terms of updates) OS.
> Hence, sometimes, Linux releases will contain software that
> doesn't work. Hence, sometimes, Linux updates will break software
> that was working before. Yes it happens in Windows-land too, but
> it's much more likely to happen with Linux for all the reasons
> I've mentioned. I call it the price of free software.

Well, you kinda comparing apples and oranges because you include all 
the software present in the repos in a Linux distro but only the 
software present in a typical install of Windows.

I would like to put forward the thesis that if you evened that out 
(by either including more software on the Windows side or just a 
default install on the Linux side), you would find that there are 
more problems in the Windows world, actually *due* to the closed 
nature. Somehow, the developers don't seem to feel enough pressure to 
develop cleanly and securely since nobody can see their code and 
criticise it. Ever tried using a non-mainstream device that didn't 
come preinstalled in Windows? In Linux it will often just work while 
in Windows you will have to spend days tweaking (not to mention 
rebooting). Add all the faults due to bad documentation and no code 
access...

I seriously don't understand why people assume that software quality 
in a commercial project is automatically higher than in a free one. 
My experience is that there is no difference on average.

  --Reinhold