e ninja wrote:
Nick,
*
inline...*
On Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 1:01 PM, Nick Hilliard <[email protected]> wrote:
On 29/09/2009 19:20, e ninja wrote:
No it is not right.
1. Anybody that has paid for software, should *never* have to pay for
bug
fixes. See http://resources.multiven.com/dossier-3
That is an interesting wish-list. Have you considered what it would do to
the price of software if vendors were made liable?
*
So vendors should not be made liable for software that people purchase? When
was the last time you happily paid for a brand-new car that won't start?
Software is always "new" because it can't break from over-use.* *Do
Microsoft, Apple, HP etc. charge customers for bug fixes in their OS? *
I can't imagine the insurance premiums, and the gratuitous law suits.
Worse still, open source would be killed by it.
*
The bill of rights clearly refers to software that is paid for. Open source
software is free.*
In the UK we have laws stating that products should be fit for the
purpose they're sold for (IANAL, though). Perhaps if it was tested in
court properly, it would mean bug fixes which would prevent the use of
the software safely would have to be provided free? I do, however,
suspect that EULAs try to strip away as much legal protection as
possible from the customer.
I know that if I were to be held liable, I wouldn't ever release anything
or contribute anything to open source software.
*
N/A. If you offer free software that nobody has to purchase, you are not
liable for the product.*
2. Forcing people to pay for a service they haven't used is
extortion<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extortion>- a criminal act -
seek legal counse
Legal counsel would probably argue that if you left your support
subscription lapse and then attempted to renew it several years later, that
the reason for doing so was because of some failure outside the
manufacturer's control, and that you were pulling a fast one.
*
I'm sure as a smart guy, you know there is no wear-and-tear in software.
Therefore, a user cannot 'break' software from over-use. All bugs in
proprietary software are inherent from the manufacturer, whether you
discover them from day 3 of purchase or 1000 years later.*
Think of hardware support as "insurance". The cost of providing the
service when it finally breaks is spread across the entire lifetime of
the contract. If someone has a device unsupported for 5 years, takes out
support and it dies 2 years later, the supplier has lost the vast
majority of the money they'd have used to pay for the replacement.
Now, I don't think this should be the case for simple software upgrades,
but I can see why it's the case for hardware replacement contracts. (And
I can see why recert exists).
adam.
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