Software reliability: to use or not to use?

Research activities in software reliability engineering have been vigorous in the past two decades since Z. Jelinski and P.B. Moranda (1972) proposed the first software reliability model. Since then, numerous software reliability models and measurement procedures have been proposed for the prediction, estimation, and engineering of software reliability. However, there seems to be a gap among the software engineering practitioners regarding the use of software reliability. Believers advocate the use of software reliability and promote the stories of success, while skeptics doubt the adequacy, validity, and consistency of software reliability both in terms of its concept and in terms of its practicality