Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (3107 mails)

[Randall R Schulz <rschulz@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Tuesday 20 February 2007 13:39, David Brodbeck wrote:
> Stevens wrote:
> > Auto manufacturers try to predict how their interiors and their
> > paints will last, too, but until both are subjected to the Texas
> > sun they are only guessing. The North has salt that kills cars; in
> > the South it is the sun. Only when they obtain empirical data can
> > they be sure and that data takes a long time to gather. The same
> > goes for optical media manufacturers. Any longevity rating is a
> > SWAG, at best, which is the reason for my cynical view.
>
> Sure.  As anyone who's ever had a couple of hard disks fail can
> attest, MTBF numbers are mostly fiction.

They're statistical measures. Everyone will experience a different 
actual failure incidence. It's also important to note what counts as a 
failure for the purpose of the values quoted by manufacturers. If they 
don't specify what their MTBF numbers quantify, _then_ I'd be 
suspicious.


Randall Schulz
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