User Participation-based Software Certification

Except for a couple of rigorous software certification schemes that are required for certain safety-critical software applications (e.g., RTCA DO178-B), there are no generally trusted software certification schemes. While there is no theoretical reason why these safety-critical standards could not be applied to all applications, there is a practical reason: cost. Estimates vary, but it is generally accepted that a line of safety-critical software costs between $500-$5,000 to design, write, test, and certify. Such levels of rigor and quality are excessive for most non-safety– critical applications. Nonetheless, a ubiquitously accepted process which provides guarantees about software quality is still needed. These guarantees must be product-based and trustworthy. This paper presents a certification process we believe satisfies this need. Our process collects appropriate data that can then be used to stamp limited warranties onto commercial software.