Mozilla's Firefox Patches Have Same Lifespan as a Mosquito
Scientists at the University of Waterloo have released an intriguing case study about the "secret life" of Firefox patches.
Specifically, the paper sheds light on the submission and approval process prior to the introduction of the Firefox rapid release process and after. The lifespan findings are among the interesting data that was published and shows that the rapid release process has its advantages, despite the criticism.
The lifespan of a patch, which defines the time of submission to a status of landed, abandoned, or resubmitted has been 3.7 days or, according to Mozilla evangelist Paul Rouget, about the same as the lifespan of a common mosquito. For patches that actually landed in Firefox, the lifespan was 4.5 days before the rapid release process and 2.7 days after (for core developers). For cases of abandoned patches, the time span increased to 31.2 days (before) and 11.1 days (after), while resubmissions are listed with 3.8 (before) versus 2.5 days (after).
The review concluded that the review of patches has accelerated by about 34 percent following the introduction of the rapid release process.
The scientists said that their investigation was based on the review of the 1-year time frame prior to the rapid release process and one year after with 6,491 and 4,897 patches, respectively.
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john_4 I'll stick with Safari on OS X and if I want to cruse some porn I fire up my Linux laptop.Reply -
theclash150 john_4I'll stick with Safari on OS X and if I want to cruse some porn I fire up my Linux laptop.Reply
Yes, because Safari is sooooooo awesome. Good one, iMoron. -
michalmierzwa Scientists should place their time into more productive findings, like how much time we, humans have to wait in a lifetime each time OS' loads up :-)Reply -
mrmaia john_4I'll stick with Safari on OS X and if I want to cruse some porn I fire up my Linux laptop.Reply
LOL @ anyone who defends that "Mac OSX and Linux can't get infected" stuff.
BTW what was the point of this study? I think that if a patch can be released in 4 days, that's great and needs to be carried on. Well done, Mozilla. -
deadlockedworld Mosquitoes are one of the most prevalent forms of life on earth. Now if Mozilla could just proliferate like Mosquitoes they would have it made!Reply -
jaquith I have no problems or even a concern about an expedited patch. Which is worst dragging your feet and allowing a 'long lifespan' of exploit or fixing it ASAP??!! Makes absolutely no sense to argue over this??Reply
What are you suggesting to leave an exploit/security hole open longer like other browsers?? Come on. -
sixdegree The scientists failed to factor in mosquito spray when calculating the lifespan of the mosquito.Reply
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