On Thu, Jul 16, 2020 at 05:27:40PM -0700, Sean Whitton wrote:
> On Thu 16 Jul 2020 at 05:19PM -07, Sean Whitton wrote:
> > You would need the buggy version of the software if you wanted to
> > make modified versions of the binary data to test for closely related
> > bugs, for example.
And there the problems begin. Every software got bugs and compilers are
especially good in finding them. So if you store the software, you
can't be sure it will produce the same output over time. Sure, you
could store the checksum, which then got the same problem, it is not
the preferred form of modification.
> It seems that there is not a general answer to the question. The binary
> test data may or may not be in its preferred form for modification,
> depending on how one would want to go about preparing other pieces of
> test data.
You are right, it depends.
Another data point: our own logo. It is generated using an algorithm.
So if someone wants to see it really strict, the algorithm and the
parameters would be the source, not the resulting vector image we use
all the time.
Regards,
Bastian
--
No one may kill a man. Not for any purpose. It cannot be condoned.
-- Kirk, "Spock's Brain", stardate 5431.6
