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Code Quality In Open and Closed Source Kernels

Posted by kdawson on from the tale-of-four-kernels dept.

Diomidis Spinellis writes "Earlier today I presented at the 30th International Conference on Software Engineering a research paper comparing the code quality of Linux, Windows (its research kernel distribution), OpenSolaris, and FreeBSD. For the comparison I parsed multiple configurations of these systems (more than ten million lines) and stored the results in four databases, where I could run SQL queries on them. This amounted to 8GB of data, 160 million records. (I've made the databases and the SQL queries available online.) The areas I examined were file organization, code structure, code style, preprocessing, and data organization. To my surprise there was no clear winner or loser, but there were interesting differences in specific areas. As the summary concludes: '..the structure and internal quality attributes of a working, non-trivial software artifact will represent first and foremost the engineering requirements of its construction, with the influence of process being marginal, if any.'"

7 of 252 comments (clear)

  1. the worst by kh12040 · · Score: -1, Troll

    i think that the linux and freeBSD are the worst because they are open source

  2. Makes no sense anyway. by twitter · · Score: -1, Troll

    There's obviously a problem with a study that takes 8GB of data and concludes that there's no difference in quality between kernels with legendary uptimes and those that can't manage memory well enough to stay up more than a few weeks. This kind of study sounds interesting but it's not practical. Practical results come from real operations.

    --

    Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.

  3. Re:windows is teh suck blah blah blah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Linuck$ $uck$

  4. I ran scripts on 8GB of data by ameboy · · Score: 0, Troll

    Then I realized it is rather pointless. That did not prevent me from presenting it anyway, after all most of the academia works this way. When I get out of the university, I will read and understand the code, maybe maintain it for a year, before judging its quality.

  5. Re:You just don't like what he has to say. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    What is the operational experience you use to pick which sockpuppet to use on any given thread? Do you look for positive karma (I guess that narrows the field significantly) or do you just say "ah what the heck" and create a new one?

  6. Two people? by gnutoo · · Score: -1, Troll

    Were those your PR firm office mates or your sockpuppets that "spent two mod points to bury a post that started out at -1 to begin with."? You people have no shame.

  7. TRANSLATION OF CONCLUSION: by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 0, Troll

    A Microsoft OS is shitty by design. It represents "first and foremost the engineering requirements of its construction" ...

    Therefore, it is designed to be the way it is.