When to fix bugs and when to leave well enough alone

[zridling]

"Creating quality software products means knowing when to fix bugs and when to leave well enough alone." Why software developers sometimes ship software with bugs. This is a very interesting and insightful article by the developer Eric Sink:

"The world's six billion people can be divided into two groups: group one, who know why every good software company ships products with known bugs; and group two, who don't. Those in group 1 tend to forget what life was like before our youthful optimism was spoiled by reality. Sometimes we encounter a person in group two, a new hire on the team or a customer, who is shocked that any software company would ship a product before every last bug is fixed.

"Every time Microsoft releases a version of Windows, stories are written about how the open bug count is a five-digit number. People in group two find that interesting. But if you are a software developer, you need to get into group one, where I am. Why would an independent software vendor - like SourceGear - release a product with known bugs? There are several reasons...."

Condensed version: http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1781895,00.html
Full version: http://software.ericsink.com/articles/Four_Questions.html

[mouser]

just finished reading the full version - great read- recommended highly.