Bugs bunnies

[David Vaughan]

"I would much rather have 75% of the functionality with 5% bugs, than  
100% of the functionality with 25% bugs!"

Good thought, I thought, but what if RunRev could not target quite  
that well? What if there were 77% of the functionality with, alas, 6%  
bugs, or 55% functionality with 1% bugs? Would either of those be  
acceptable? Fortunately, I have a solution to this conundrum and  
expect soon to become very rich :-)

I propose that all interested parties complete the following simple  
exercise and send the results  to me. For every percentage of  
functionality between 50 and 100 and every bug percentage from 25 to  
0, rate each of the 1326 combinations on a desirability scale from 0  
(min) to 9 (max). From this I will be able to derive a mathematical  
function, probably polynomial, which will describe to RunRev the  
average risk profile of their user base. Oh, it is also essential  
that you define accurately for me what constitutes a percentage of  
functionality, or what is a percentage of bugs. Also, what punishment  
should we inflict if a fug or bunction is accidentally missed?

If your point is that, generally speaking, you prefer reliability to  
features then welcome to a diverse community, You may or may not find  
yourself in the tail of a Bell curve at the far end of which is a set  
of users devoted to cutting edge functionality at the cost of several  
work-arounds and in the middle of which is a large group of people  
who use the product with varying levels of delight or discomfort.  
Uncomfortable people exist at both ends of the scale, not only on the  
side you personally inhabit. This seething mass of desires and groans  
is what RunRev happily call "a market".

The weekend will be here soon; then they might like to have a  
Scotch  :-D

cheers
David

Post Script: I stripped the name of the person who originated the  
quotation above because they are undoubtedly frustrated by a problem  
which they currently are unable to get around. I am commenting on the  
problems involved in simple expressions of needs.