D&C GLug - Home Page

[ Date Index ] [ Thread Index ] [ <= Previous by date / thread ] [ Next by date / thread => ]

Re: [LUG] Software warranties are for mugs

 

On Sat, 16 Dec 2006 19:25:43 +0000
Paul Sutton <zleap@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> How do you define fitness for purpose it was sold for,

There are clear definitions for such terms - generally the description
of the item and any specific claims.
> if you buy a toaster then you use that for making toast,

or other bread-related products (ask Talkie Toaster for a full list).

> software on the other hand can be used for anything,

Not true. A specific piece of software can only do one job. A word
processor cannot compile a kernel, a graphics program doesn't handle
DNS itself, nor can it wash your dishes or get you a beer.

>  a word
> processor to custom made software,   if you ask too much of it
> sometimes that particular piece of software may fall over,   and fail
> to perfom on that task,

If that task is part of the claims of the program (as expressed by the
packaging / help documentation), then that is a bug. Even if it is not
specifically part of the claims of the program, a crash is ALWAYS a bug
because the program should handle invalid input with an error message,
not a crash.

>  which is why I think this disclaimer is
> important,   also why we  have acronyms like Your Mileage May Vary,
> you can't predict what someone will use the software for,   and
> therefore can't make promises regarding perfomance.

Rubbish. You cannot predict what a *modified* version of the software
could do but the programmer has to explicitly know what the software
can be used to do. If a user is able to use the program to do something
that the programmer did not anticipate, that's another bug - the
functionality should be documented and handled otherwise future updates
could cause it to be lost.

Crashes are bugs, undocumented features are bugs, anything a program
does that is unexpected is also a bug.
> Anti Virus software is good at it's job,  but only if kept up
> todate, at somepoint,  a virus will come out that it does not know
> about and that may get through,   now if a user has clicked on en
> e-mail attachment and activated the virus,  the software fails you
> can't go blame the anti virus vendor,

That's different, that is a clearly documented part of the use of the
program.

> same would go for filtering software,  it can't filter every site out
> there,  new sites appear all the time,  so the software does the best
> job it can' but they need the disclaimer just in case something nasty
> gets  through.

Heuristics.

--

Neil Williams
=============
http://www.data-freedom.org/
http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/
http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/

Attachment: pgp2DTCdIBn0l.pgp
Description: PGP signature

-- 
The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG
http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list
FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html