Developers - don't you just love 'em?
Developers – don’t you just love ‘em?
As part of releasing a new version of the software to Live, we perform a sanity test on the release day to check the release has gone Live OK and/or to be aware of potential problems when the users start using it after the release. One of my testers found a problem with the release during this sanity check that was not evident in the test environment.
Conversations went something like this:
Tester: I have found a problem with our Master/Slave installation
Me: Well, raise a bug report, high priority
Some few minutes pass as Tester tells Developer a bug report will be raised……..
The sound of heavy footsteps coming to my desk….
Developer (clearly upset): Why do you want a bug report raised on this, it is not a bug!
Me: Is there a problem with the installation script?
Developer: Yes
Me: Then we should raise a bug report
Developer: But it is a very rare occurrence.
Me: But not impossible?
Developer: No, but it would be very unusual
Me: So, it is possible and is a problem, therefore we raise a bug report.
Developer: Well it isn’t a high priority problem.
Me: What is the workaround then? (Note: High priority means there is no acceptable workaround)
Developer (after thinking for a few seconds): We would send an engineer to the site with a memory stick
Me: And would that be done within our
Developer: It would only take a few minutes to do the installation
Me: Even if the engineer had to drive 300 miles to the site?
Developer: Well, I suppose not
Me: So it is high priority problem
Developer: It won’t get fixed.
Me: That is not your call, nor mine – that is a decision made at the bug review meeting that I chair.
Developer: To fix it we would have to redesign the system, do you want to redesign the system?
Me: I don’t do the design, I report the problems with the design.
Developer (now getting desparate): Well, you won’t be popular for raising this.
Me: I didn’t go into Test Management to be popular.
Developer storms off to get a doll in my image so he can stick pins in it (I suspect).
Some more time passes……
An email comes out that some Master/Slave devices in Live have had an installation problem…
The one statement that almost had me in fits of laughter was the “you won’t be popular for raising this”. Did he really think that every time we find a problem that I sit down and determine whether to raise it or not depending on how it would affect my popularity? Sheesh.
