product liability (was 'we should all be uncomfortable with the extent to which luck..')

[William Allen Simpson <wsimpson () greendragon com>]

Perhaps a different approach is in order -- product liability.  

When Firestone made a large number of bad tires, they compensated the 
purchasers by PAYING for replacement, including those that had not yet 
been injured.  That included the upgrade, and the installation cost.

Network operators have been injured by the distribution of buggy software from M$.  We need to be compensated for our 
time and expenses.

End users need to be compensated for their costs to upgrade.

A check in the mail would be a better incentive to administrators than 
"automatic" updates.


"Wayne E. Bouchard" wrote:
> On Tue, Jul 24, 2001 at 10:35:37PM -0700, k claffy wrote:
> >      ==>  5.4 billion people haven't selected an OS yet
> >
> >
> > [k: maybe we can get them on OS-antioxidants
> > before it's too late]
>
> ...
> Doing this, right now, can be difficult for many users to grasp (lets
> face it, some software doesn't update well, if at all) and may require
> more effort than even reputable administrators are willing to extend.
>
> How to go about making the public more secure, of course, is an
> on-going debate and perhaps even a losing battle but still worth the
> effort.
-- 
William Allen Simpson
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