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