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Originally Posted by tompe
But these kind of problems should not have crept in. You do not get the impression that the developers are especially competent and I really wonder if they use bug track system and automatic regression testing and similar standard tools.
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They shouldn't with good regression testing but oftentimes regression and long-term stress testing get little attention when the deadlines are aggressive. I have no idea how much automation they have but even with great automation, it's only as good as the set of testcases you've written. You usually can't test absolutely every scenario so you focus on the ones you think are the most likely. Sometimes the testcases just aren't very thorough. Sometimes they are and you get a surprise spill anyway.
You can also have competent bug tracking and still end up with issues. I've never seen a QA department that didn't have a bug tracking database. No reason not too when Bugzilla is free. That doesn't mean that products aren't released with known bugs. In fact, I've never seen a product go out the door without known bugs. You weigh the estimated impact of the bug against the consequences of slipping your release date. Oftentimes the people making this decision are more customer-facing and less technical. They don't always fully understand the impact of a given bug. IME, they tend to be an overly optimistic bunch. They're often the ones responsible for setting the release dates, too.