Free Technology Newsletters
» All 33 InfoWorld Newsletters
Technology & Business Daily
 
InfoWorld
 
   

"Ten Commandments" for Software Programs

By Ed Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Fri Jul 18, 2003 at 11:52:08 AM PDT
I recently wrote about a proposed “Bill of Rights” for computer users that has been introduced in the U.S. Senate. Since that idea was a little vague, one reader took it upon himself to remedy that shortcoming. Jack Naylor, President of Naylor Engineering, P.C., offers these very specific “Ten Commandments” he (and I) would like to see adopted by developers of software products.


“1. Thou shalt install no other stuff without telling me and giving me the option of saying no. Guerrilla installs of Internet Explorer, add ons, demos, etc. shall result in the programmer being visited by a plague of little crawly things. ”

“2. Thou shalt include a complete uninstall program which removes all files and registry entries w/o leaving little registration files behind. In addition, an "uninstall.txt" file shall be provided detailing all files (a) installed in the program directory, (b) installed in so called "common" directories, (c) installed in the root directory, Windows directory or other C drive directories, as well as all registry entries in case they need to be manually deleted. ”

“3. Thou shalt create a backup subdirectory inside the program directory called "backup". The subdirectory shall include all old files replaced as a result of the install as well as a text file listing where they were originally located. ”

“4. Thou shalt provide documentation in all advertising, including packaging, listing the required hard drive space on drive C as well as the total hard drive space. Topo USA Ver. 4 for example installs 70 MB in its home directory and then 300 more MB on C. ”

“5. Thou shalt provide the user the option of storing all data files and backup files at a location of THEIR choosing. E-mail programs shall allow inbox, outbox and trash files to be stored on Data drives rather than on C drives. User shall decide if he wants backups of old drivers and duplicate dll's on his C drive or another drive. ”

“6. Thou shalt do nothing which comprises the integrity of my computer by making all defaults the MOST secure of the available options. ”

“7. Thou shalt provide no "back doors", automatic update features, etc. which can not be wholly and completely disabled by the user with full documentation being provided therefore and features left in the disabled position by default. ”

“8. Thou shalt provide live tech support for at least 90 days after the first phone call. ”

“9. There shall be no limitation upon making a backup copy or transfer of ownership. ”

“10. Users shall be permitted to install one copy on their office machine and another on their home machine or laptop.”

< UCITA: No Reverse in Virginia | Linksys Support Won't Fix "Broken" Router >


Display: Sort:
"Ten Commandments" for Software Programs | 3 comments (3 topical) | Post A Comment
product activation[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#1)
by byelen on Thu Jul 24, 2003 at 06:47:36 AM PDT

"And you will provide a means that all product activation features can and will be unlocked should you decide to end-of-life the product, drop support, or (horrors!) go out of business!"

[ Reply to This ]


Most especially the first commandment![ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#2)
by Reziac on Thu Jul 24, 2003 at 09:40:20 AM PDT

And here's one reason why:

TurboTax forcibly installed IE5.5 on my Win98 box -- with absolutely NO indication that it would do so, and no way to stop or abort it (short of hitting the reset button, usually a Bad Idea). This pretty well FUBAR'd the system and cost me four hours of work getting stuff more or less back how it was before (couldn't get it 100% fixed, it must have clobbered some obscure DLL). Over a year later, I still rant about it to anyone I can corner; and after years of being a good customer, now I'll never buy another Intuit product.
~REZ~
[ Reply to This ]



@nd Commandment[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#3)
by fishmp on Thu Jul 24, 2003 at 11:06:23 AM PDT

I like the 2nd Commandment, but all of the products that give you a free trial period might be giving you unlimited time unless they could leave something behind without telling you.

[ Reply to This ]


"Ten Commandments" for Software Programs | 3 comments (3 topical) | Post A Comment
Display: Sort:
Recent Entries
A few things
13 comments

Thank you
18 comments

Ed Foster: 1949-2008
76 comments

Dell notebook turns into a Bad Buy
13 comments

Of Apple, Psystar users, and copyright
11 comments

The suspicious death of XP support
34 comments

More The Gripelog...

•Submit a gripe
•About the Author
•Email Ed Foster

Help Ed and his readers build these projects:
The Gripewiki
The EULA Library

Login
Make a new account
Username:
Password:

Live Gripes
Has AOL Changed Their Ways?
51 comments

A Nestle SweeTarts Conspiracy
192 comments

AT&T Kills "Bad" Username
207 comments

DESPERATE! AOL HAS TAKEN OVER MY COMPUTER
275 comments

parkingticket.com SCAM on refunds
186 comments

Don't let Net Enforcers Ruin Your Day.
106 comments

More Live Gripes...

Sign up for my newsletter

To have my column automatically e-mailed to you, submit your email address in the form below. Of course, I will not turn your address over to any other party or send you any unrequested e-mail.

Infoworld Blogs

Recomended Sites
The AFFECT Coalition
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Free Software Foundation
HearUsNow.org
Public Knowledge
StopBadware.org

Jeff Angus
Ben Edelman
Dan Gillmor
Bob Lewis
Brian Livingston
Freedom to Tinker
Lawmeme
PC World's Techlog
SunBeltSoftware Blog
Troubleshootsers.com

Rss Feeds
How this works
 Top News 
 Columnists 
 Tech Watch 
 Test Center Reviews 
 Applications 
 App Development 
 E-Business Solutions & Strategies 
 End-user Hardware 
 Networking 
 Operating Systems 
 Platforms 
 Security 
 Standards & Protocols 
 Storage 
 Telecommunications 
 Wireless 
 Web Services 

 

create account | faq | search