Re: Is strong typing worth the cost?

[John English <je@brighton.ac.uk>]

Jeffrey Carter wrote:
> 
> dmjones wrote:
> >
> > Unless the vendor of the software pays, these are not costs in
> > the sense being discussed here.
> 
> The vendor of the software certainly should pay. Every company that
> loses money from these flaws should sue the vendors. Even if they won
> every case the cost of litigation would make it worth correcting the
> software

A case in point is the "I love you" virus. Instead of pursuing some
hapless idiot in the Philippines and putting him on trial for releasing
a virus, why didn't they sue Microsoft for handing the guy the lethal
weapon (VBScript) which has the power to do anything at all to the
machine
it runs on and which, by default, Microsoft mail clients will run
automatically. I know who I consider the guilty party here... and
the companies who lost out from the virus would stand more chance
of a meaningful settlement from Microsoft than from a lone Filipino.

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