Clustering for databases

Andrew Moore amoore at gotany.com
Mon Sep 15 19:52:08 CDT 2003


On Mon, Sep 15, 2003 at 01:56:21PM -0500, Brian Kelsay wrote:
> Have you ever read the EULA that comes w/ any MS product?
>
> It says that that don't even guarantee it's fitness for what its
> supposed to do.  Most software has similar info in the license (even the
> GPL).  But at least w/ free software its more of an honest agreement.  I
> hear all the time about the ability to sue someone if the software
> breaks, but in reality that license (which is a contract) protects them
> from most legal problems.  What a lot of people forget is that Bill
> Gates was studying contract law in college before he quit to make
> software.  He was very good at it.

There are some rights that you just can't give away
with a contract. I have heard some speculation that
this is once such instance.

Tobacco companies even go so far as to say "This Will
Hurt You" and then when it does they lose lawsuits.
Granted, it's not a contract, but there are some
analogies that can be drawn like this. Perhaps we'll
soon see more warning labels on software?

IANAL and grain of salt and such, of course.

-A




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