From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.6 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_05,INVALID_DATE autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!batcomputer!cornell!uw-beaver!bowfin.cs.washington.edu!simon From: simon@bowfin.cs.washington.edu (Kevin Simonson) Subject: Yearly Fees for Support of Compilers Message-ID: <1991May3.172546.5703@beaver.cs.washington.edu> Summary: Why does the customer have to pay for compiler bugs? Keywords: fees compiler support Sender: news@beaver.cs.washington.edu (USENET News System) Organization: Computer Science & Engineering, U. of Washington, Seattle Date: Fri, 3 May 91 17:25:46 GMT List-Id: I posted an article just a few days back about a problem getting the vendor that sold us (the University of Washington) an Ada compiler for our Sun 4, to look into a suspected bug in that compiler. It turns out this company DOES support its compilers, but only if we pay for that support, a fee every year, apparently just in case there are bugs in the company's compiler that its programmers overlooked. Does anyone know if this is common? Are there companies that instead of charging a "compiler insurance" yearly fee, will just sell people their compiler and will look into suspected bugs without charging a yearly fee? I can understand human error in coding the compilers, but it seems to me that such error shouldn't have to be payed for by the people using the compiler. I got a number of responses to my previous article from people who suggested companies that sell Sun 4 Ada compilers. I appreciate those re- sponses and will check with each individually to see if they provide sup- port without charging yearly for it. But I thought I would post this in case "compiler insurance" turns out to be a necessary evil that somebody can tell me I have to live with. ---Kevin Simonson -- Murphy's Law of Aerodynamics: When the weight of the paperwork equals the weight of the airplane, the airplane flies.