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From: Nicholas N. <nj...@cs...> - 2005-03-12 07:18:21
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Hi,
I've received enough responses to the current survey that I know I want to
streamline it. Below, I explain which questions I want to cull and why.
Basically, the shorter the better, since excessive length will put some
people off.
Almost every question lets you put additional comments. I propose merging
some of these so there is just one comments box per section.
Also, the new website allows you to do this with a web form, or via email.
I propose removing the email option -- doesn't seem much point having both
methods.
It's worth noting that every question serves one of two basic goals:
obtain information that lets us improve Valgrind, or obtain information
that is just interesting to us. The first goal is crucial, the second
goal is less important.
My comments are in [[double square brackets]].
Any opinions are welcome; if I don't get any, I'll just go ahead and make
the changes.
N
------ Learning about Valgrind -------------------------------------
# How did you first learn about Valgrind?
from a friend [ ]
from a workmate [ ]
searching for tools [ ]
from a publication [ ] (eg. a mailing list;
please name under "comments")
other :
# How many other programmers have you told about Valgrind?
# How many of them have used it as a result?
# Any other comments about how you first learnt about Valgrind?
[[these ones not much use... but I might keep them...]]
------ Using Valgrind ----------------------------------------------
# Approximately how long (in months) have you been using Valgrind?
[[hmm, not sure, somewhat interesting, but not terrible useful... could be
cross-correlated with
other responses to indicate experience, if I wanted to get fancy...]]
# When developing, on what events do you *manually* run Valgrind?
# (Select all the options that are appropriate.)
after all changes [ ]
after big changes [ ]
before a release [ ]
when a bug occurs [ ]
when a bug is suspected [ ]
when optimising [ ]
just "now and then" [ ]
other :
# On average, approximately how often do you use Valgrind?
hourly [ ]
daily [ ]
weekly [ ]
monthly [ ]
other :
[[I suggest merging those two]]
# Do you use Valgrind in any automated fashion? (Eg. in a test
# suite, but *not* just by starting manually using a script.)
yes [ ]
no [ ]
Comments:
[[remove this, not much use]]
# What x86 machine(s) do you use Valgrind on? Estimate the
# proportion of your Valgrind usage on different machines.
# (Example: Pentium 4 70%, Athlon 30%)
# What Linux distribution(s) do you use Valgrind on?
# Estimate the proportion of your Valgrind usage on different
# distributions. Please give version numbers if possible.
# (Example: RedHat 9.0 90%, SuSe 8.1 10%)
[[these two interesting, keep]]
# In what form did you/do you obtain Valgrind?
# (Select all the options that are appropriate.)
source, from CVS [ ]
source, from website [ ]
pre-built version (eg. RPM) [ ]
already installed on system [ ]
other :
[[interesting, keep]]
# Which Valgrind tools do you use? Estimate the proportion of
# your Valgrind usage each tool accounts for.
# (Example: Memcheck 80%, Addrcheck 10%, Cachegrind 10%)
Memcheck :
Addrcheck :
Cachegrind :
Helgrind :
Calltree/KCachegrind :
Massif :
other :
[[crucial! keep]]
# Which of Valgrind's command-line flags do you always,
# or almost always, use?
# (Example: --leak-check=yes, --num-callers=20)
# Which of Valgrind's command-line flags do you sometimes use?
[[these two crucial! keep]]
# Any other comments about how you use Valgrind?
------ Comparing Valgrind with similar tools -----------------------
# Have you used other tools that are similar to any of the
# Valgrind tools?
yes [ ]
no [ ]
# If so, for each tool, please provide the following information.
# Take more than one line if necessary.
name of other tool :
hardware/OS platform : (eg. x86/Linux; Solaris/SPARC)
ways in which...
...Valgrind is better :
...Valgrind is worse :
...Valgrind is equal :
# Any other comments about how Valgrind compares with other tools?
[[remove this whole section. Basically, I originally put it there to get
comparisons against Purify. We now know that almost everyone thinks V is
as good or better. No point having it now.]]
------ Valgrind on other platforms ---------------------------------
# If Valgrind was available on all hardware/OS platforms,
# estimate what proportion of your usage would be on each
# platform. Please describe each platform as precisely as
# possible.
#
# Example answer:
# PowerPC/MacOS X : 50%
# SPARC9/Solaris : 25%
# x86/Linux : 20%
# IA64/Linux : 5%
x86/Linux :
[[Crucial! keep]]
------ Software issues ---------------------------------------------
# The following questions are about software issues,
# eg. Valgrind's licence, speed, memory usage, ease of use,
# quality of information produced, robustness, documentation, etc.
# List up to 3 existing features of Valgrind that you think are
# good. Give as much detail as necessary.
1.
2.
3.
# List up to 3 existing features of Valgrind that you think need
# improvement. Give as much detail as necessary.
1.
2.
3.
# List up to 3 missing features you would like added to Valgrind.
1.
2.
3.
# Do you have ideas/wishes for new tools that could be built with
# Valgrind? Give as much detail as necessary.
# Any other comments about software issues?
[[this whole section crucial, keep]]
------ Non-software issues -----------------------------------------
# The following questions are about non-software issues,
# eg. Valgrind's website, release frequency, bug handling,
# mailing lists, publicity, etc.
# List up to three aspects of Valgrind's development that you
# think are good. Give as much detail as necessary.
1.
2.
3.
# List up to three aspects of Valgrind's development that you
# think need improvement. Give as much detail as necessary.
1.
2.
3.
[[those two important, keep]]
# Have you submitted any bug reports or feature requests for
# Valgrind?
yes [ ]
no [ ]
Comments:
# Have you contributed any code that has been included in Valgrind?
yes [ ]
no [ ]
Comments:
[[remove these two. I don't even know why I put them in.]]
# Any other comments about the non-software issues?
------ Project details ---------------------------------------------
# For *each project* on which you have used Valgrind, we would be
# interested to know the following information. Omit any
# details you want to keep private. Please estimate for any
# answers you're unsure about. Take more than one line per
# answer if necessary.
project name :
website (if one exists):
brief description :
public or private? :
license : (eg. GNU GPL; BSD; proprietary)
language(s) : (estimate proportions if > 1,
eg. 80% C, 20% Fortran)
number of programmers:
- in total :
- using Valgrind :
size (lines of code) :
number of users :
development location :
other comments :
[[keep this, interesting]]
# Would you be willing to have your project mentioned on the
# Valgrind website as one that uses Valgrind? (Please only say
# "yes" if you have the appropriate authority within your project
# to do so, or you have asked someone with the appropriate
# authority.)
yes [ ]
no [ ]
[[keep this, useful fodder for the website users list. Make it clear
that we would only give the project name, web address, and a brief
description, but none of the other details.]]
# If so, please specify any information you gave in the previous
# answer that you do *not* want mentioned (eg. "don't mention the
# development location"). We will not mention your name.
[[remove this in light of change to previous question]]
------ Supporting Valgrind -----------------------------------------
# It costs you nothing to use Valgrind, but it costs us money to
# develop it. Would you be willing to donate money to support
# Valgrind's continued development? (This is a sensitive
# question; feel free to give no answer. If you answer "yes",
# quantitative comments would be appreciated.)
yes [ ]
no [ ]
no answer [ ]
Comments:
# Would you be willing to contribute to Valgrind in a
# non-monetary fashion? Please indicate what form this might
# take (eg. help with documentation).
[[remove this whole section; it's obnoxious and doesn't get useful
responses. The donations page is there on the website, people can
go via that if they want.]]
------ Surveys -----------------------------------------------------
# Any comments about the content, structure or results of this
# survey, or the previous survey?
[[keep this, useful]]
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