Sue Apple?

The Rip Ragged blog lays down some text on some things would-be competitors to Apple should know. There's wisdom in those words:

...a Windows computer is great for rebooting and running all of your cool anti-virus apps... Your Windows machine will also hold down a stack of loose papers next to an open window on a breezy day.

Yep. A couple things need to be cheerfully challenged, however.

...Pure open source is really nice, but nobody is in charge. There isn't anybody to sue when you lose your entire digital life to a keystroke. Accountability and warranties are important.

Truth be told, there isn't anybody to sue if your OS X or Windows software coughs up a hairball and deletes your digital existence. "Not responsible for any defects in our software" is graven into the marble of the companies' software license agreements. With an open source product, on the other hand, there may not be a "company" to complain to, but there may be something better: a direct line to the person or persons who made the software. Not a "Push 1 if you'd like to stay on hold, push 2 if you'd just like to wait more" line to outsourced tech support (motto: "Reboot and then call back, so hopefully instead of me you'll get Sanjiv on Line 32, who's a fat jerk and smells like ghee"). Rather, you'll often be able to contact the actual software developer to ask about a workaround or request a fix. Better yet, you can do something you can't even think about doing with the Apple or MS code: get under that hood there and fix the engine yourself, if you've got the coding chops.

So suing Apple for a software bug is off the menu, though RR's related point is valid: at least with Apple you get a one-stop target for complaints, whether hardware or software. But another point bears correction:

Apple doesn't copy protect or DRM their software. There's a registration code for QuickTime Pro, but other than that, nothing...

Actually, Apple protects more software than just QuickTime Pro. OS X itself is delightfully SN-free, in stark contrast to Windows. But Apple does require SNs for some (all?) of its pro apps. The lower-cost, consumer-friendly iWork requires an SN as well. I'm sure there are other examples.

It's all far better than the Microsoft world, which I expect any day now to start requiring a product code to activate the IndenturedServitude Live account that will generate the serial number to open an ugly box containing the tacky decoder ring that reveals a license ID to generate the password for...

Ahem. Point is, Apple software is good, as RR says, but I have to note that it's not all protection-free, you can't sue Cupertino if the code blows up, and open source software can actually leave you more options when things go south. True, you may not be able to fix the open-source bug yourself, and you may not get lucky in trying to catch the responsible programmer's ear, but those are at least possibilities!