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Famous Movie Quotes applied to software engineering - A Few Good Men

I think when testing we sometimes come across a showstopper of a bug, that would stop the release in its tracks, what we don't want to have is a problem where the product owner isn't approachable, or won't listen to the full effects of the bug... This is where the following quote from A Few Good Men comes into play...



You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!!
We need to be careful how we communicate bugs, and not just showstoppers, if we raise a bug that isn't really that severe, but paint a picture of it being an absolute showstopper, well then we could get into a situation of the boy who cries wolf. We don't want to be in the situation where the business can't handle the truth about a bug, and you end up disguising the severity of it for whatever reason.

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