However, many operational systems find this to be a much more rapid and agile approach to development, staging, and deployment.
The open source dictum, "release early and release often", in fact has morphed into an even more radical position, "the perpetual beta", in which the product is developed in the open, with new features slipstreamed in on a monthly, weekly, or even daily basis.
It's no accident that services such as Gmail, Google Maps, Flickr, del.icio.us, and the like may be expected to bear a "Beta" logo for years at a time.
[1]Used in the larger conversation of what defines Web 2.0, O'Reilly described the concept of perpetual beta as part of a customized Internet environment with these applications as distinguishing characteristics: However, the Internet and the development of open source programs have changed the role of the (end) user.
The user is to be regarded thereby as Mitentwickler (English Co-Developer) in the process of the advancement of a program.