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by joe_the_user
5068 days ago
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What prevents a "loudly trumpet Beta"? Say "this is our beta, try it, critique it but don't count on it being perfect" Call it "4.00001" or "3.9999". It seems to me that you could get people's attention and so get test users while still trumpeting the software's "not-completely-finished-ness". |
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a) It's not all about beta testing. A big thing is developer recruitment. The demographics among FOSS developers ensure a relatively high amount of turnover: Many of them are at an age where their life and/or job situation is likely to change within two-three years, causing them to move on. A steady influx of new talent is needed to keep the show on the road.
At the same time, a project that isn't releasing is less attractive to contributors for a variety of reasons: The time it will take for your handiwork to be delivered into user's hands, the level of information circulating about contribution opportunities (i.e. "what does this even do that I might want to hack on"), et cetera. It's also still true that a lot of FOSS contribution is itch-driven: You start contributing because what you're using isn't doing quite what you need it to. But if you're not using it, if there's no exposure, there's no way for the itch to happen. And usage explodes with a real release vs. a beta.
b) People don't test betas, relatively speaking. The amount of feedback explodes for an actual release. Now you'd think that beta feedback would be of higher quality on average (due to people who actually do test betas being more advanced users), but even expert users often hold back on betas despite knowing better.