Path: utzoo!mnetor!tmsoft!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!daver!tscs!tct!chip From: chip@tct.uucp (Chip Salzenberg) Newsgroups: comp.software-eng Subject: Re: Unlimited software warranties Message-ID: <27E7A026.1A8B@tct.uucp> Date: 20 Mar 91 17:47:18 GMT References: <8024@rsiatl.Dixie.Com> <1991Mar13.021244.2538@ico.isc.com> <1991Mar16.171033.380@am.sublink.org> Organization: Teltronics/TCT, Sarasota, FL Lines: 28 According to alex@am.sublink.org (Alex Martelli): >In other markets, after all, there ARE at least a portion of suppliers >that do well by selling high-quality, durable goods, where the buyer can >rely on their not breaking unexpectedly ... A recent RISKS article (comp.risks) quotes an IBM paper to the effect that 30% of the bugs in a widely-used OS did not show up until an average of 5000 running years. High-quality software is difficult. Given that bugs will constantly be discovered, I think the best we can reasonably ask is a serious effort to fix bugs NOW instead of saying, "Wait until the next release." Of all the vendors I've worked with, the one that comes closest to the ideal in this respect is (gasp) IBM. We just got an RS/6000, and each and every bug that I've reported has been dealt with. Some are still pending (gotta love bureaucracy), but two bugs were solved with fixes sent by overnight express. More significantly for this discussion, they have never said, "Fixed in the next release," unless they said in the same breath, "and let me send that to you now." Whatever you want to say about IBM, they take support seriously. -- Chip Salzenberg at Teltronics/TCT , "All this is conjecture of course, since I *only* post in the nude. Nothing comes between me and my t.b. Nothing." -- Bill Coderre