thanks!

I do enjoy your blog and your sense of irreverance Thomas.

@cold_ronald i’m not sure i was knocking the quality of the product, just the fact that it costs more and then on top of that they throw additional costs your way. that doesn’t seem right to me. The warranty language you chopped out is fairly standard wording that can be found in Oracle products as well as just about any software product.

save your hate for me and put it towards Ellison, he’s the one stealing your money, not me.

That warranty by Microsoft is no different than the 3 year 36,000 mile warranty that you get with a new car. Its funny how you pick and choose your statements and leave out the meat that provides the appropriate context. I could do the same thing with Oracles license agreement as well:

“Oracle Corporation and its affiliates disclaim any liability for any damages caused by use of
this software…”

Same thing as the Microsoft statement basically. What’s really interesting in the Oracle licensing is all the third-party and opensource addons that ship with their product that have licenses similar to:

“THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS “AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR Third-Party Product Licensing for Oracle Database A-2 Oracle Database Licensing Information CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.”

Would you buy a car that cost as much as a Bentley that had more bolt on’s than a redneck’s pickup in the backwoods of lower Alabama? I sure as hell wouldn’t.

“Microsoft warrants that the Software will perform
substantially in accordance with the accompanying materials
for a period of ninety (90) days from the date of receipt”.

Would you buy a car that possibly could not perform like a car as expected? You do when you buy Microsoft products.

“Microsoft and its suppliers provide the Software and support
services (if any) AS IS AND WITH ALL FAULTS, and hereby disclaim all other warranties and
conditions, whether express, implied or statutory,
including, but not limited to, any (if any) implied
warranties, duties or conditions of merchantability, of
fitness for a particular purpose, …”.

Talk about shady.

It was raised a few years back.
http://www.pythian.com/news/526/an-open-letter-to-larry-ellison-on-awr-and-ash-licensing/

Brian,

Exactly, that’s why it makes no sense for any car dealer to think about doing such a thing. You buy it, you own it, go ahead and dig through it as much as you want.

Oracle, on the other hand, has a way to enforce this, and they do so. I simply cannot imagine being the project manager that decides to buy Oracle only to find out that I need to fork over additional money after the purchase simply because I queried a few system tables. It’s just as bizarre to me as trying to buy a car from a dealer that wants to enforce the same restriction.

Then again, I am used to having Microsoft help me do things for little to no cost, I suppose.