Re: M$ to STRIKE again...

[James Giles <JGiles@cris.com>]

Catherine Rees Lay wrote:

[...]

> Don't be too hard on Delphi, btw - just because Borland are prepared to
> acknowledge their bugs doesn't mean they have any more than other
> companies/products. The existence of a well-defined bugs list is a plus,
> not a minus.

It used to be (in the good old days) that all computer vendors (software
or hardware) were very up-front about errors.  They would bend over
backwards trying to educate users about the present buglist and the
status of the respective fixes.  The problem in those days was
complacent users who couldn't be bothered to look through the known bugs
until they got bitten.

These days (especially after the Intel floating-point fiasco) vendors
seem to be shy about even admitting to having bugs.  I suspect it's
really due to a perceived changed among company marketing strategists of
the expertise of the user community.  In the old days, users were only
the elite professional type and would not have stood for stone-walling
from the vendors.  Now, most users are naive newcomers that might shy
away from any company with admitted bugs - and who can be bullied into
thinking any problems encountered are their own fault.  (Note: I'm not
saying that this is so.  I just think that's the opinion among the
vendors.)  So, most companies believe it's now in their interest to
conceal errors if possible.

-- 
J. Giles
Ricercar Software