New Cars vs. New Software
on
Copyrant
·
· Score: 1
Here's some food for thought... When you buy a car, if something doesn't work right, they either fix the problem, or discount the price of the car so that you are not monetarily inconvinienced. I just bought a Jeep, and there was a problem with the license plate mount. I took it back to the dealership, and they fixed it for me. They didn't point me to a website where I could acquire a part that could be delivered to me that I would have to install myself. No, they fixed it for me. Why? Because I paid for a piece of merchandise that I expected to be in operational condition, and it was not.
Conversely, I have had experiences where I have acquired something, and it was broken, and it was not fixed for me. This something was picked up at a swap meet at my place of business. I didn't pay for it, I didn't expect repairs. Sure, there's probably something I can get out there to repair it, but I didn't expect the individual that I got it from to provide me with that information. Why? I didn't pay for it.
Now let's take those two examples and apply them to the software business. You would think, given any kind of good business sense, and common logic, that if you paid for a piece of software, not only would you expect to get something that was fully functional, but also something that if there was something wrong, the company that produced it, or at least the dealer of the software, would fix the problem for you. Not point you to a website to download a patch that may or may not install correctly, and if it does install, may or may not corrupt all the data on your hard drive. This example would, of course, apply to M$ and other software 'giants' out there.
Then, on the other side of the coin, you have open source software. You don't pay for it, you don't expect ANY warranty, and if there's a fix for a bug, you probably have to hunt it down yourself.
But wait! Let's step back into the real world for a moment. Let's look back at this equation. Given the constants S=Software, P=Paid for, F=Free, T=Tech Support, U=Unsupported, you would expect these formulae: S + P = T S + F = U But it doesn't work that way, does it boys and girls? Looking into the real world you realize that the M$ software that you paid for has little to no actual support to speak of, and if you mention anywhere in the computer community that you need help with a Microsoft product, you will be scoffed at and humiliated for even using one, but the open-source software that you downloaded, legally, from Jim and Bob's FTP server in Podunk, Arkansas is actually kind of supported on the internet. Not officially, mind you, but if you need help, you can get on an IRC channel, and be talking to a LIVE person within 2 to 3 minutes of initializing the modem dialing procedure, whereas if you want to get support for the M$ software you paid for at the store, you have to go through an IVR system that would drive the most patient people to near insanity, and then, as if that weren't enough, you have to then sit on hold for 30 minutes to 3 hours to speak to a live human being, who has been answering stupid questions all day, and really doesn't want to talk to you about your piddly little problem. Sounds like a serious role reversal to me. A good one for us Slashdotters, because we have the sense to use an open-source software package, and not waste our time calling the tech line at M$. But a bad one for your cousin Myrtle who just wants to see the e-mail that has pictures of her baby nephew, and doesn't know much about the computer except to turn it on.
oh, BTW, try calling M$ for tech support on the copy of Windows you downloaded from Jim and Bob's FTP server in Podunk, Arkansas
My whole point is that we should come to expect more from software companies. But it's not going to do us any good to piss and moan about it in a forum that is not viewed (read: respected) by any of the large software vendors. If we really want to see a change, we have to do something about it. In this country, we were blessed with at least one liberty by our government, and that is freedom of the press. We need to get out there and show them that while the press is free to say what they will, they should be saying things about what is current and what matters in the world today. Let's face it, in the current business world, computers are the single most used commodity aside from paper, and they're quickly replacing a number of the tasks that were performed on paper. So why not contact your local television station, or your local newspaper, or even a national television network or newspaper. Let them know that we as the open source community demand to be heard. If they receive enough calls/letters/e-mails from people like you and me, maybe they'll do a 2 minute spot on new operating systems, or the injustice of these new EULA's... or maybe I'm just pissing my time away complaining like the rest of us. But we do have the power to be heard by more than the people that already know what we have to say, and are saying the same things. Let's use that power!
Slashdot Mirror
Here's some food for thought... When you buy a car, if something doesn't work right, they either fix the problem, or discount the price of the car so that you are not monetarily inconvinienced. I just bought a Jeep, and there was a problem with the license plate mount. I took it back to the dealership, and they fixed it for me. They didn't point me to a website where I could acquire a part that could be delivered to me that I would have to install myself. No, they fixed it for me. Why? Because I paid for a piece of merchandise that I expected to be in operational condition, and it was not.
Conversely, I have had experiences where I have acquired something, and it was broken, and it was not fixed for me. This something was picked up at a swap meet at my place of business. I didn't pay for it, I didn't expect repairs. Sure, there's probably something I can get out there to repair it, but I didn't expect the individual that I got it from to provide me with that information. Why? I didn't pay for it.
Now let's take those two examples and apply them to the software business. You would think, given any kind of good business sense, and common logic, that if you paid for a piece of software, not only would you expect to get something that was fully functional, but also something that if there was something wrong, the company that produced it, or at least the dealer of the software, would fix the problem for you. Not point you to a website to download a patch that may or may not install correctly, and if it does install, may or may not corrupt all the data on your hard drive. This example would, of course, apply to M$ and other software 'giants' out there.
Then, on the other side of the coin, you have open source software. You don't pay for it, you don't expect ANY warranty, and if there's a fix for a bug, you probably have to hunt it down yourself.
But wait! Let's step back into the real world for a moment. Let's look back at this equation. Given the constants S=Software, P=Paid for, F=Free, T=Tech Support, U=Unsupported, you would expect these formulae:
S + P = T
S + F = U
But it doesn't work that way, does it boys and girls? Looking into the real world you realize that the M$ software that you paid for has little to no actual support to speak of, and if you mention anywhere in the computer community that you need help with a Microsoft product, you will be scoffed at and humiliated for even using one, but the open-source software that you downloaded, legally, from Jim and Bob's FTP server in Podunk, Arkansas is actually kind of supported on the internet. Not officially, mind you, but if you need help, you can get on an IRC channel, and be talking to a LIVE person within 2 to 3 minutes of initializing the modem dialing procedure, whereas if you want to get support for the M$ software you paid for at the store, you have to go through an IVR system that would drive the most patient people to near insanity, and then, as if that weren't enough, you have to then sit on hold for 30 minutes to 3 hours to speak to a live human being, who has been answering stupid questions all day, and really doesn't want to talk to you about your piddly little problem. Sounds like a serious role reversal to me. A good one for us Slashdotters, because we have the sense to use an open-source software package, and not waste our time calling the tech line at M$. But a bad one for your cousin Myrtle who just wants to see the e-mail that has pictures of her baby nephew, and doesn't know much about the computer except to turn it on.
oh, BTW, try calling M$ for tech support on the copy of Windows you downloaded from Jim and Bob's FTP server in Podunk, Arkansas
My whole point is that we should come to expect more from software companies. But it's not going to do us any good to piss and moan about it in a forum that is not viewed (read: respected) by any of the large software vendors. If we really want to see a change, we have to do something about it. In this country, we were blessed with at least one liberty by our government, and that is freedom of the press. We need to get out there and show them that while the press is free to say what they will, they should be saying things about what is current and what matters in the world today. Let's face it, in the current business world, computers are the single most used commodity aside from paper, and they're quickly replacing a number of the tasks that were performed on paper. So why not contact your local television station, or your local newspaper, or even a national television network or newspaper. Let them know that we as the open source community demand to be heard. If they receive enough calls/letters/e-mails from people like you and me, maybe they'll do a 2 minute spot on new operating systems, or the injustice of these new EULA's... or maybe I'm just pissing my time away complaining like the rest of us. But we do have the power to be heard by more than the people that already know what we have to say, and are saying the same things. Let's use that power!