Josh Osborne writes:
Note well: Netscape is offering this reward for finding bugs in *beta* release code. In other words the code that they *know* crashes, code that they susspect has security releated bugs, code that they don't think is (yet) good enough to charge a mesely $40 for!
Whoops, wrong. BETA does not mean code "they know crashes." In fact it is quite the opposite. This is pre-release code that they are bug fixing. most of the catastrophic bugs, they probably know about. A BETA program is to increase the testing and quality assurance staff to find all of the bugs they DON'T know about. Then, they will have a reasonable amount of time to fix those bugs before release. It makes for a much more stable product. Now, look at companies like SPRY/Compuserve or Logos Research Systems. Both companies I have worked for. SPRY didn't really have a BETA program that amounted to much until Internet in a Box version 1.0. Even that was a lame beta program. Mostly internal use and testing. Logos (a Bible software company) never even had a beta program. As much as I like the guys at Logos, they released version 2.0 recently and it's buggy. Simple cosmetic things like not being able to "cancel" out of the options dialog, or "help" buttons taking you to wrong places in the help file, these are all things that would have been caught in a decent testing environment or a beta program. Microsoft, who I don't necessarily like all the time, has a great beta program. Usually it is several months to a year of intense testing, bug fixing, feature cleanup, usability testing, etc. Their software may not be the best, but more often than not it is stable. Anyway, I see Netscape's move to paying for beta testing will result in a more stable browser, and hopefully more secure software.
If they don't get buried in bad press for this, I would guess that they may have a diffrent program with a diffrent set reward for finding bugs in their for-sale version.
Why would they get bad press?
Besides nobody said you have to report your bugs to Netscape just because they gave you free software and offered some sort of reward for finding bugs. If you don't think the "pay" (including the posability of having the software fixed) is high enough, don't report the bugs.
Once again, Josh, I'm afraid I have to disagree with you on this one. Especially in regards to secure software. I see your point, but... Whether or not you have to report the bugs is immaterial. Netscape is doing a service by making their app available for testing before saying "this is secure." As a person who does business over the net, if I found out that my software was NOT secure, I would seek either a secure update or another company's software. If I'm happy with Netscape's software, I'll report the bugs to improve it's quality. In my humble opinion, improving the software is reward enough. Very few companies have paid beta programs. I'd rather see bugs fixed before release than getting the bad press after release for shoddy workmanship. Sorry this was so long. I didn't mean to ramble. I'll get off my soapbox now... Brad