Seems like as time goes on, I have to deal with more and more bugs in iOS and OS X. I know I'm not the only one.[1] I think I've figured out why: Apple doesn't track bugs. I just know they don't, even though I don't work there. Its like they just add features and release a new version, so they can ignore all bugs reported for previous versions. Crash reports are automatically and constantly submitted (looking at you Safari), but it never seems to get better. Gives me the feeling that the bugs are never fixed, just carried over into every new version.
Couldn't be farther from the truth. Apple's development process revolves around their bug tracker, to an extent that I haven't seen anywhere else. If it isn't in Radar, it didn't happen.
But do they care about bugs in previous versions? Or do they only address bugs in the current/beta version? I suspect the latter, which means there's a growing set of non-critical bugs which get re-reported in every version but never fixed (priority always lower than shipping new features). Otherwise, I don't know how to explain the seemingly increasing instability of the software: memory leaks, crashes, etc. I even bought a new MacBook Pro this year, and maxed out the RAM at 16gb, but Safari still crashes and has the same frustrating issues like the occasional won't-refresh-local-url-without-quitting-and-restarting. Such bugs don't get added with new features, they've been there for a while in previous versions.
Based on my interaction with Apple engineers, Bug Reporter is the primary way to communicate issues to them and is a large factor in driving their development. On forums and mailing lists, they're constantly telling people to file bugs.
Neither one of those points is necessarily true. Especially point the first, where margins on software were ridiculously inflated by certain companies, with no discernable change in software quality. Just as one example, apparently paying $59 for something that should have already worked, that you already paid for, doesn't mean it will be fixed: http://toddsnotes.blogspot.com/2009/11/microsoft-genius-erro...
As for the "ass-wipes can't be choosers" argument, that's just flat out unprofessional. If you were building a house for Habitat for Humanity, would you slack off and not hammer all the nails in because "hey, it was free, ass-wipe"? Maybe my point of view is skewed, because in one of the charities I volunteer for, doing something half-assed is fairly certain to get someone killed.
I get that OSS isn't always someone's day job, they may not have enough time to handle bug reports or documentation, etc, etc. But as the solutions to supporting an OSS project go, ignoring bug reports or making them hard to file rank pretty low. If someone doesn't have the time to handle the load, they need to communicate that. Post it on the project page. Put out a call for help to other volunteers. Have the bug reporting system autorespond that the project is not moving very fast. At least let your users know where they stand.
