[aklug] Re: A developer's take on system resource consumption

On 06/11/2011 03:05 PM, Arthur Corliss wrote:
> All of which brings forth a good question: how much better a computing
> situation would we all be in if *developers* were forced to be at the tail
> end of the upgrade cycle, rather than the forefront? If we, as a matter of
> routine, had lower-spec'd hardware than the majority of the users we have to
> support?

TL;DR Idiot developers write crappy code on crappy hardware just like on
awesome hardware.

Start by reading "Worse is Better" (by Richard Gabriel, not Jamie):
http://www.dreamsongs.com/RiseOfWorseIsBetter.html

Then, consider Moore's Law and how using a computer that is
below-average will compare to the average computer when your software is
released.

In my opinion, you're trying to fix a process problem with a technical
solution. Thus, you are doomed to failure. The (vague) answer is to
structure a group where you're developing for what the average system
will be at release time, using awesome hardware for developers and
"real" hardware for QA/test, alongside metrics that reflect the average
user.

With respect to Mozilla, the last is their issue - their view of an
average user is skewed, although I don't know why (I have ideas, but no
data to support/refute).

-L
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Received on Sat Jun 11 21:02:39 2011