Hello everyone, I have a good idea for a big project, any developer care to listen? The development of Linux is always depend on chance, not certainity. It maybe the biggest hinderance for Linux to become a real competitive OS. For Linux to run well, either kernel and softwares has to be tested on many different hardwares platform (combination of CPU and other components). Currently, if some developer has developed a program, s/he will post it in E-mail/mailing list, then wait for someone of unknown hardware platform to test it. S/he: 1.) Can NOT TARGET a certain hardware platform for beta-test, it all depend on his/her luck; 2.) Can NOT expect a response within certain time limit; 3.) May NOT able to test the program on ALL hardware platform for a long time. To overcome this, how do we TURN every Linux user automatically a beta-tester without ANY technical background? The answer lie in a specially made kernel: It will allocated a protected area of CPU which is open for ALL developer in the world for beta-testing his/her program. For instance, if a developer is writing a program called K which he want to test on hardware platform A,B and C, he will just have to activate a searcher in his Linux, then the searcher will look at the hardware profile of all Linux in the world to find a match; if a match is made, then the program is travel through www to these specific computer; the program is executed in the special area of CPU which will NOT affect what the owner is doing, then the result is sent back to the original developer for comparison. Now the developer can get results for ANY specified hardware platform in an expect time, it does NOT depend on luck or chance! S/he could get MANY MANY MANY results from MANY MANY MANY different hardware platform within a short time, and s/he should NEVER worry about un-tested platforms since the whole Linux community's CPU is open for him/her. Moreover, instead of waiting for some human to pick it up from a list then test it then post the result, everything is now done AUTOMATICALLY without the help of owner, the developer can COUNT on getting the result within hours or even minutes, how much it will SPEED UP the Linux development? Any taker of this idea? Anyone want to write a new chapter of Linux development? I believe developmental process is key aspect to improve and refine if Linux want to stay ahead.
Thanks in advance! Best Regards, Euler Cheung Project Manager LinuxLiveCD.com
So, euler, you want everybody to install uml, and make their uml installation available to the public.
It's a neat idea, but it wouldn't work for a few reasons:
1) It is almost impossible to ensure that the protected area has no influence on the main machine. Performance will suffer, available memory will be reduced, or disk space will be used up.
2) If packets can get in to this 'special area', and they can get back out, then they must be getting past the firewall configurations that people have erected to keep the bad people out. How do you tell good testers from malicious or disrespectful testers?
3) The product isn't being tested on a real kernel. It is being tested in a protected area that does not match real world conditions, and does not talk to real hardware. (If it talked to real hardware, point (1) would become more significant)
The approach that has impressed me, is companies such as IBM offering time share on test machines to reknowned open source developers, and in some cases, even to merely curious open source developers.
mark
On Tue, Jul 22, 2003 at 01:51:53AM -0700, euler euler wrote:
Hello everyone, I have a good idea for a big project, any developer care to listen? The development of Linux is always depend on chance, not certainity. It maybe the biggest hinderance for Linux to become a real competitive OS. For Linux to run well, either kernel and softwares has to be tested on many different hardwares platform (combination of CPU and other components). Currently, if some developer has developed a program, s/he will post it in E-mail/mailing list, then wait for someone of unknown hardware platform to test it. S/he: 1.) Can NOT TARGET a certain hardware platform for beta-test, it all depend on his/her luck; 2.) Can NOT expect a response within certain time limit; 3.) May NOT able to test the program on ALL hardware platform for a long time. To overcome this, how do we TURN every Linux user automatically a beta-tester without ANY technical background? The answer lie in a specially made kernel: It will allocated a protected area of CPU which is open for ALL developer in the world for beta-testing his/her program. For instance, if a developer is writing a program called K which he want to test on hardware platform A,B and C, he will just have to activate a searcher in his Linux, then the searcher will look at the hardware profile of all Linux in the world to find a match; if a match is made, then the program is travel through www to these specific computer; the program is executed in the special area of CPU which will NOT affect what the owner is doing, then the result is sent back to the original developer for comparison. Now the developer can get results for ANY specified hardware platform in an expect time, it does NOT depend on luck or chance! S/he could get MANY MANY MANY results from MANY MANY MANY different hardware platform within a short time, and s/he should NEVER worry about un-tested platforms since the whole Linux community's CPU is open for him/her. Moreover, instead of waiting for some human to pick it up from a list then test it then post the result, everything is now done AUTOMATICALLY without the help of owner, the developer can COUNT on getting the result within hours or even minutes, how much it will SPEED UP the Linux development? Any taker of this idea? Anyone want to write a new chapter of Linux development? I believe developmental process is key aspect to improve and refine if Linux want to stay ahead.
Thanks in advance! Best Regards, Euler Cheung Project Manager LinuxLiveCD.com
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Mark Mielke