[Tfug] No warranty for software

[Bexley Hall]

--- sitkaa at email.arizona.edu wrote:

> Okay, in rebuilding the IBM partitions I pulled out
> the collection of (eight!)
> cd's to reload the OS. There is an eight page
> IMPORTANT! manual that 
> grabbed my
> attention. It was basically a CYA (Cover Your Arse)
> document produced 
> by IBM to
> placate Microsoft's plethora of jumpy lawyers. What
> is interesting about it is
> the number of languages it came in.

What amuses me (as an engineer) is how willing people
are to accept "no warranty" on a software product.
Yet, if you put a *tiny* bit of hardware to *run*
that software, people EXPECT a warranty!

And, how readily people will accept bugs in software
products -- yet when similar software is running on
a *device*, they find that bug "unacceptable".

Moral of story:  build hardware products with NO
software.  Sell software separately with NO
warranty (even if the software ONLY runs on that
*particular* piece of hardware!).

So, if a switch, connector, power supply fails,
you (manufacturer) deal with it as a warranty
repair.  OTOH, if the software (which embodies
99.937204% of the device's FUNCTIONALITY) doesn't
work, just shrug your shoulders:  "caveat emptor"

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com