Re:We Need Software Updates Forever
by phkahler on Thursday September 23, 2021 @01:24PM
(#28632263)
>> I know of almost no software that's ever finished.
All appliances including TVs until recently. 10s to 100s of modules on cars - until recently.
I knew someone who worked in over-the-air updates at <big car company> who said the software teams kept wanting to push updates after start of production. I said "no, updates are so you can avoid the cost of recalls, not so they can finish late" and we had complete agreement. Updates are potentially good by allowing critical fixes, but they are more commonly wanted by developers who can't wrap-up a solid release on schedule.
To be clear, suppliers to the auto companies have HARD deadlines - your customer has hundreds of suppliers delivering components for a particular model year SOP and they aren't going to disrupt everyone else because your software team is late. This leads to incremental (manageable) improvements rather than big new developments (which do happen but not tied to a particular program). Abusing OTA updates to allow more slop in this is probably going to lead to some issues.
All appliances including TVs until recently. 10s to 100s of modules on cars - until recently.
I knew someone who worked in over-the-air updates at <big car company> who said the software teams kept wanting to push updates after start of production. I said "no, updates are so you can avoid the cost of recalls, not so they can finish late" and we had complete agreement. Updates are potentially good by allowing critical fixes, but they are more commonly wanted by developers who can't wrap-up a solid release on schedule.
To be clear, suppliers to the auto companies have HARD deadlines - your customer has hundreds of suppliers delivering components for a particular model year SOP and they aren't going to disrupt everyone else because your software team is late. This leads to incremental (manageable) improvements rather than big new developments (which do happen but not tied to a particular program). Abusing OTA updates to allow more slop in this is probably going to lead to some issues.