🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <361bb2f3.3315888@news.netcologne.de>,
Tim Green <tmgreen@jollynet.de> wrote:
>On Mon, 05 Oct 1998 21:18:51 GMT, Barry Margolin
><barmar@bbnplanet.com> wrote:
>
>>How many people would buy a car if they had to sign a contract saying that
>>they would get all repairs done by the dealer?
>
>Millions do. Why do you think auto manufacturers offer two and three
>year warranties? It's not out of the goodness of their hearts. First
>it's good for sales, but more importantly the warranty ensures that
>you get your car serviced by one of the manufacturer's dealers for the
>entire duration of the warranty - otherwise your guaratee is void.

I made the mistake of getting an extended service contract for my last car,
but I don't recall anything in it about voiding the warranty if I went to
an independent.  I just didn't get the work done for free in such cases.

Also, notice that I was talking about such requirements being attached to
buying the car at all.  When you buy a car you have the option of
purchasing the extended warranty or not.  I can easily imagine a similar
situation with free software: you can purchase a service contract, in which
case you would receive technical support for free from the vendor so long
as you're running the program unmodified (how can the vendor really be
expected to troubleshoot your problems if you're not running the program
he's familiar with) or you can take advantage of the source code
availability to hire an independent contractor to customize the program for
you.

-- 
Barry Margolin, barmar@bbnplanet.com
GTE Internetworking, Powered by BBN, Burlington, MA
*** DON'T SEND TECHNICAL QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO ME, post them to newsgroups.