Ken,
While this may be true to some extent, I do disagree. In my current role
of porting, I do not require root privs, but I do need to install some beta
software required for my system. However, in my previous contracts both
at Raytheon as well as at Digital, I could not do my job without having
root access. At raytheon I needed root priviledge to develop a device
driver for a fibre channel board. At least under HP-UX, it had to be
compiled in a specific subdirectory, and installed in another. At Digital, I
was responsible for the floating point code in the Digital Unix kernel. I
could build without root access, but certainly could not test.
Secondly, testing is not a lab function. Today, most software
development is performed at the desktop, and at least unit tested at the
desktop. In general, the developer should never, ever give untested code
to the test/QA people. More advanced testing, such as integration,
regression, is certainly a lab function.
The bottom line is that in the past 9 years or so I could not have done my
job without root privs. In my previous Digital contract, I had 3 systems in
my office. My personal Unix workstation, where I probably did not have a
requirement for root. I had another Unix system where I tested my kernel
mods, and a third system (alpha NT) where I tested the assemblers.
On 21 Jun 2000, at 15:05, Kenneth E. Lussier wrote:
> Two points here:
> 1) No, engineers do *NOT* "need to".. Engineers *WANT* to. Testing is a
> lab function.
Jerry Feldman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Associate Director
Boston Linux and Unix user group
http://www.blu.org
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