Quote:
Originally Posted by nathanww
Well, depending on the type of beta required, many beta tests could be made open betas. For example, what would a public beta of CAN require? New software libraries and a few cables. FIRST/WPI/whoever would need to provide libraries anyway for a closed beta.
Yes, that does mean more strain on FIRST/WPI to respond to bug reports,provide support, etc. But...that's really what has to happen for the product/system to mature. If 300 teams are emailing because they can't figure out how to configure something, it means the documentation's not clear. If FIRST gets 1000 bug reports for various things, it's a lot more work for them, but as long as they can be prioritized and dealt with, it means that teams AREN'T going to hit those issues during build season.
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There aren't as many people available to work on the beta test on the FIRST/NI/WPI/Oracle side as you may think. Opening the beta up to 1000 teams is going to result in a lot more work without a lot more results.
From experience I can tell you that inexperienced users make lousy beta testers - their feedback can be vague, contradictory, and all in all detrimental to getting everything working. But if teams 67, 111, and 254 can't figure something out, then there's a good chance that somebody on the development side is going to need to fix something.