Questioning how BMD release their firmware? A better process

Hi,

I thought I'd add a little bit of experience I have...

The way to release software (firmware) in my opinion is to first release an alpha/beta version. Throw this out to the public who can further test it. And then gather feedback (via web forms or dedicated forum or something) from users of bugs found. 'Cause new features can introduce new bugs and/or break old features.

After gathering feedback, correct the bugs. Then release something called a "release candidate" to the public. Meaning you're almost there but going through final checks to iron out any last minute niggles.

Then make an *official* release that we can all be confident in, that it has been through a thorough testing process. This is the cycle that is the norm in the software industry. So a more disciplined approach to releasing firmware from BMD is needed I believe.

There are things such as "audio" broken from release to release which tells me there is obviously something worryingly not quite right in BMD's process of delivering firmware for the camera.


Jules

I would say the 'Release Candidate' step is only really used on very large software projects with sales to millions of buyers (e.g. Microsoft products). There is also a distinct difference between Alpha and Beta test. I would say Alpha test is internal testing, and someone like jb would qualify as an alpha tester. It is important, and lots of feedback occurs there. Beta test is to a limited group of pretty savvy users who are expected to really use the product and provide quality feedback and give actual details about bugs found. Beta test programs vary a lot, and they matter a lot. Many times even larger software companies do a pretty quickie beta test, because it is delaying a big influx of revenue (the release date). The number of people in a beta test also matters, as more people provide more variations of use, which is good. Then it is assumed that after release, some more bugs will be found, so the dev team works on the reported bugs and releases updates to fix them. Of course, the bugs found after release are supposed to be diddly little nits that are rarely used by most users. No major problem should be found after release.

I would say the 'Release Candidate' step is only really used on very large software projects with sales to millions of buyers (e.g. Microsoft products). There is also a distinct difference between Alpha and Beta test. I would say Alpha test is internal testing, and someone like jb would qualify as an alpha tester. It is important, and lots of feedback occurs there. Beta test is to a limited group of pretty savvy users who are expected to really use the product and provide quality feedback and give actual details about bugs found.

Maybe the small select that do the beta testing don't even use on-board audio recording and so BMD never get feedback that anything is wrong with the audio? Opening the beta to the public/community will definitely let them know where all the bugs are.


So in summary, I think BMD should make their firmware beta versions available to everyone for feedback.

Jules