A buck for each bug?
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We frequently have interns that work with the latest and greatest code and manuals, and they are a great source of feedback. (*cough*cheaptesters*cough*) We were discussing how to reward for finding bugs. Generally, their pay usually isn't great (but the projects are), and I am all for paying them money for finding and isolating bugs (I need a repro!), also mistakes in the manuals, etc. The only two ideas on the table are "a one time bonus for good bug finding skills", or "a small amount for each bug found". The first is much to fuzzy, the second is ripe with horror stories of system abuse - I just don't want to go down arguing what constitutes a bug and what does not, and finding that I rejected 90 of their 100 bug reports might be pretty frustrating for them. So maybe "A buck for each bug reproducable on a developers system"? What would you do? Any Horror Stories? Or maybe, err, ahem, success stories? To clarify: They are not hired as testers. They have a usually very interesting topic to work on. We just want to motivate them to not gloss over the bugs.
Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Velopers, Develprs, Developers!
We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
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We frequently have interns that work with the latest and greatest code and manuals, and they are a great source of feedback. (*cough*cheaptesters*cough*) We were discussing how to reward for finding bugs. Generally, their pay usually isn't great (but the projects are), and I am all for paying them money for finding and isolating bugs (I need a repro!), also mistakes in the manuals, etc. The only two ideas on the table are "a one time bonus for good bug finding skills", or "a small amount for each bug found". The first is much to fuzzy, the second is ripe with horror stories of system abuse - I just don't want to go down arguing what constitutes a bug and what does not, and finding that I rejected 90 of their 100 bug reports might be pretty frustrating for them. So maybe "A buck for each bug reproducable on a developers system"? What would you do? Any Horror Stories? Or maybe, err, ahem, success stories? To clarify: They are not hired as testers. They have a usually very interesting topic to work on. We just want to motivate them to not gloss over the bugs.
Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Velopers, Develprs, Developers!
We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
Linkify!|Fold With Us!What stage are the tests being run at? If it at the late beta early delta stages then this is what I would give (AUD): Spelling error in manual: $1.00 Bad sentences, incorrect punctuation, etc. in manuals: $3.00 Bugs: simple Glitches: $2.00 simple Warning level Errors: $3.00 Simple critical errors: $5.00 Obscure warning level errors/Glitches: $4.00 Obscure critical errors: $10.00 Security errors: $15.00
Brad Australian - Captain See Sharp on "Religion" any half intelligent person can come to the conclusion that pink unicorns do not exist.
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We frequently have interns that work with the latest and greatest code and manuals, and they are a great source of feedback. (*cough*cheaptesters*cough*) We were discussing how to reward for finding bugs. Generally, their pay usually isn't great (but the projects are), and I am all for paying them money for finding and isolating bugs (I need a repro!), also mistakes in the manuals, etc. The only two ideas on the table are "a one time bonus for good bug finding skills", or "a small amount for each bug found". The first is much to fuzzy, the second is ripe with horror stories of system abuse - I just don't want to go down arguing what constitutes a bug and what does not, and finding that I rejected 90 of their 100 bug reports might be pretty frustrating for them. So maybe "A buck for each bug reproducable on a developers system"? What would you do? Any Horror Stories? Or maybe, err, ahem, success stories? To clarify: They are not hired as testers. They have a usually very interesting topic to work on. We just want to motivate them to not gloss over the bugs.
Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Velopers, Develprs, Developers!
We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
Linkify!|Fold With Us!peterchen wrote:
Generally, their pay usually isn't great
They get paid ?! :wtf: Back in my days, we worked (internship) for free. Imagine my face when I heard that a small CR counted at 1000-1500 € a day and they told the client we developed 5 days although it only took me 2,5 days to do it. I never saw one penny (or eurocent actually).
V. I found a living worth working for, but haven't found work worth living for.
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We frequently have interns that work with the latest and greatest code and manuals, and they are a great source of feedback. (*cough*cheaptesters*cough*) We were discussing how to reward for finding bugs. Generally, their pay usually isn't great (but the projects are), and I am all for paying them money for finding and isolating bugs (I need a repro!), also mistakes in the manuals, etc. The only two ideas on the table are "a one time bonus for good bug finding skills", or "a small amount for each bug found". The first is much to fuzzy, the second is ripe with horror stories of system abuse - I just don't want to go down arguing what constitutes a bug and what does not, and finding that I rejected 90 of their 100 bug reports might be pretty frustrating for them. So maybe "A buck for each bug reproducable on a developers system"? What would you do? Any Horror Stories? Or maybe, err, ahem, success stories? To clarify: They are not hired as testers. They have a usually very interesting topic to work on. We just want to motivate them to not gloss over the bugs.
Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Velopers, Develprs, Developers!
We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
Linkify!|Fold With Us! -
What stage are the tests being run at? If it at the late beta early delta stages then this is what I would give (AUD): Spelling error in manual: $1.00 Bad sentences, incorrect punctuation, etc. in manuals: $3.00 Bugs: simple Glitches: $2.00 simple Warning level Errors: $3.00 Simple critical errors: $5.00 Obscure warning level errors/Glitches: $4.00 Obscure critical errors: $10.00 Security errors: $15.00
Brad Australian - Captain See Sharp on "Religion" any half intelligent person can come to the conclusion that pink unicorns do not exist.
Interesting. The code sometimes comes straight from a dev machine build, and manual is written by non-native speakers, so I would go down a bit. Anyway: I assume you are in favor of such a scheme - but what constraints would you set on an "accepted bug report"?
Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Velopers, Develprs, Developers!
We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
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peterchen wrote:
Generally, their pay usually isn't great
They get paid ?! :wtf: Back in my days, we worked (internship) for free. Imagine my face when I heard that a small CR counted at 1000-1500 € a day and they told the client we developed 5 days although it only took me 2,5 days to do it. I never saw one penny (or eurocent actually).
V. I found a living worth working for, but haven't found work worth living for.
Yes, they are. If it's a mandatory internship during their education, or a diploma they get a "success bonus", i.e. if the result is good, they get a one time payment. And they are not required to give the copier a workout or make coffee. Some continue to work part time, or want to accrue some more internship days, which ain't free. But our standards are fairly high.
Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Velopers, Develprs, Developers!
We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
Linkify!|Fold With Us! -
Interesting. The code sometimes comes straight from a dev machine build, and manual is written by non-native speakers, so I would go down a bit. Anyway: I assume you are in favor of such a scheme - but what constraints would you set on an "accepted bug report"?
Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Velopers, Develprs, Developers!
We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
Linkify!|Fold With Us!peterchen wrote:
but what constraints would you set on an
Error messages or crashes. Also make sure that they can't report anything on the bug tracking database already. Error's will mostly cause a crash or an error message so that is pretty easy and security errors are easy to validate. Basically if something doesn't work it is an error, so just set up a simple error amount that you can afford to just give them if it is something small.
Brad Australian - Captain See Sharp on "Religion" any half intelligent person can come to the conclusion that pink unicorns do not exist.
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We frequently have interns that work with the latest and greatest code and manuals, and they are a great source of feedback. (*cough*cheaptesters*cough*) We were discussing how to reward for finding bugs. Generally, their pay usually isn't great (but the projects are), and I am all for paying them money for finding and isolating bugs (I need a repro!), also mistakes in the manuals, etc. The only two ideas on the table are "a one time bonus for good bug finding skills", or "a small amount for each bug found". The first is much to fuzzy, the second is ripe with horror stories of system abuse - I just don't want to go down arguing what constitutes a bug and what does not, and finding that I rejected 90 of their 100 bug reports might be pretty frustrating for them. So maybe "A buck for each bug reproducable on a developers system"? What would you do? Any Horror Stories? Or maybe, err, ahem, success stories? To clarify: They are not hired as testers. They have a usually very interesting topic to work on. We just want to motivate them to not gloss over the bugs.
Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Velopers, Develprs, Developers!
We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
Linkify!|Fold With Us!Donald Knuth in his classic programming series back in the '70s offered a buck for the first bug discovered in his books, and the reward was doubled for each subsequent bug. I don't think he ever had to even pay the dollar reward. Then again, he was a genius and didn't have bugs or make mistakes. *sigh* On the other hand, if I had to pay a nickel for each bug I'd be sleeping in the streets roaming for WiFi with my laptop in a paper bag.
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peterchen wrote:
Generally, their pay usually isn't great
They get paid ?! :wtf: Back in my days, we worked (internship) for free. Imagine my face when I heard that a small CR counted at 1000-1500 € a day and they told the client we developed 5 days although it only took me 2,5 days to do it. I never saw one penny (or eurocent actually).
V. I found a living worth working for, but haven't found work worth living for.
I'm doing my final years project (Afstudeerproject for the dutch) and I get payed too. I even drive a leasecar :) I can't remember when I didn't get payed for the work I did during an internship. There was one employer that didn't pay, but he was a jerk and was abusing interns by letting them do stuff that wasn't even remotely related to the study were doing. Personally I think it's a good idea to surprise the interns with a day out of the office doing something fun like a night bowling and a dinner, or something sporty like a day indoor snowboarding or something like that. I'm pretty sure they will love it. I think this is a good idea, because money can be one motivation to report bugs, but you can also motivate them by thanking them personally for reporting the bug and show them you actually do something with it by providing a new version to them where the bug is fixed. I agree that this sounds like something they wouldn't be happy with, but from my experience it's a honor to be part of a project and that your name shows up in the credits.
WM. What about weapons of mass-construction? "What? Its an Apple MacBook Pro. They are sexy!" - Paul Watson
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We frequently have interns that work with the latest and greatest code and manuals, and they are a great source of feedback. (*cough*cheaptesters*cough*) We were discussing how to reward for finding bugs. Generally, their pay usually isn't great (but the projects are), and I am all for paying them money for finding and isolating bugs (I need a repro!), also mistakes in the manuals, etc. The only two ideas on the table are "a one time bonus for good bug finding skills", or "a small amount for each bug found". The first is much to fuzzy, the second is ripe with horror stories of system abuse - I just don't want to go down arguing what constitutes a bug and what does not, and finding that I rejected 90 of their 100 bug reports might be pretty frustrating for them. So maybe "A buck for each bug reproducable on a developers system"? What would you do? Any Horror Stories? Or maybe, err, ahem, success stories? To clarify: They are not hired as testers. They have a usually very interesting topic to work on. We just want to motivate them to not gloss over the bugs.
Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Velopers, Develprs, Developers!
We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
Linkify!|Fold With Us!We're at the tail end of a largish project and have been *lucky* enough to have had a team of testers at our disposal and they've been quite knowledgable and generally know how to grade a 'feature' so that it gets attended to in a reasonable order according to severity and business impact. However, the users are another matter. Everything is a "critical showstopper", especially as we near the end of the project and a live release. Suddenly the wrong font is a critical error, an incorrectly spelt label is a critical error, every-other thing they find, no matter how trivial is a showstopper. If it wasn't for the users this would be the best job in the world.
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I'm doing my final years project (Afstudeerproject for the dutch) and I get payed too. I even drive a leasecar :) I can't remember when I didn't get payed for the work I did during an internship. There was one employer that didn't pay, but he was a jerk and was abusing interns by letting them do stuff that wasn't even remotely related to the study were doing. Personally I think it's a good idea to surprise the interns with a day out of the office doing something fun like a night bowling and a dinner, or something sporty like a day indoor snowboarding or something like that. I'm pretty sure they will love it. I think this is a good idea, because money can be one motivation to report bugs, but you can also motivate them by thanking them personally for reporting the bug and show them you actually do something with it by providing a new version to them where the bug is fixed. I agree that this sounds like something they wouldn't be happy with, but from my experience it's a honor to be part of a project and that your name shows up in the credits.
WM. What about weapons of mass-construction? "What? Its an Apple MacBook Pro. They are sexy!" - Paul Watson
WillemM wrote:
I even drive a leasecar
Gelukzak ;P
V.
Stop smoking so you can: Enjoy longer the money you save. Moviereview Archive -
WillemM wrote:
I even drive a leasecar
Gelukzak ;P
V.
Stop smoking so you can: Enjoy longer the money you save. Moviereview Archive -
hehehe :D
WM. What about weapons of mass-construction? "What? Its an Apple MacBook Pro. They are sexy!" - Paul Watson
Just for your reference, I'm currently driving a company car as well... :-D
V.
Stop smoking so you can: Enjoy longer the money you save. Moviereview Archive -
Just for your reference, I'm currently driving a company car as well... :-D
V.
Stop smoking so you can: Enjoy longer the money you save. Moviereview Archive -
Now I'm curious, where do you work and is it also an internship or do you work there for a longer period of time (i.e. Your normal work)
WM. What about weapons of mass-construction? "What? Its an Apple MacBook Pro. They are sexy!" - Paul Watson
I'm currently working at Anderlecht for over a year now. I'm working 3,5 years already, not including my internship ;-).
V.
Stop smoking so you can: Enjoy longer the money you save. Moviereview Archive -
I'm currently working at Anderlecht for over a year now. I'm working 3,5 years already, not including my internship ;-).
V.
Stop smoking so you can: Enjoy longer the money you save. Moviereview ArchiveI'm doing my project at Info Support in Veenendaal. I really hope I can stick around there, because it's a great company to work for and it really fits my style of work. Anderlecht turns up some info on google, but it's all soccer, neighborhoods etc.
WM. What about weapons of mass-construction? "What? Its an Apple MacBook Pro. They are sexy!" - Paul Watson
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I'm doing my project at Info Support in Veenendaal. I really hope I can stick around there, because it's a great company to work for and it really fits my style of work. Anderlecht turns up some info on google, but it's all soccer, neighborhoods etc.
WM. What about weapons of mass-construction? "What? Its an Apple MacBook Pro. They are sexy!" - Paul Watson
:laugh: I once did a job interview at Info Support in Mechelen. It's a small world after all ...
V.
Stop smoking so you can: Enjoy longer the money you save. Moviereview Archive -
We frequently have interns that work with the latest and greatest code and manuals, and they are a great source of feedback. (*cough*cheaptesters*cough*) We were discussing how to reward for finding bugs. Generally, their pay usually isn't great (but the projects are), and I am all for paying them money for finding and isolating bugs (I need a repro!), also mistakes in the manuals, etc. The only two ideas on the table are "a one time bonus for good bug finding skills", or "a small amount for each bug found". The first is much to fuzzy, the second is ripe with horror stories of system abuse - I just don't want to go down arguing what constitutes a bug and what does not, and finding that I rejected 90 of their 100 bug reports might be pretty frustrating for them. So maybe "A buck for each bug reproducable on a developers system"? What would you do? Any Horror Stories? Or maybe, err, ahem, success stories? To clarify: They are not hired as testers. They have a usually very interesting topic to work on. We just want to motivate them to not gloss over the bugs.
Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Velopers, Develprs, Developers!
We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
Linkify!|Fold With Us!one tequila sunrise for each bug fact - the bloke found 83 bryce
--- To paraphrase Fred Dagg - the views expressed in this post are bloody good ones. --
Publitor, making Pubmed easy. http://www.sohocode.com/publitorOur kids books :The Snot Goblin, and Book 2 - the Snotgoblin and Fluff
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Donald Knuth in his classic programming series back in the '70s offered a buck for the first bug discovered in his books, and the reward was doubled for each subsequent bug. I don't think he ever had to even pay the dollar reward. Then again, he was a genius and didn't have bugs or make mistakes. *sigh* On the other hand, if I had to pay a nickel for each bug I'd be sleeping in the streets roaming for WiFi with my laptop in a paper bag.
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Just be sure they don't team up with the programmer to create a little business. :->
Denevers
What? "Code me a Hummer baby":-D
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