Subject: CCL:PENTIUM BUG

From: [email-masked] (Andrepeter Heiner)
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 94 10:47:39 GMT

Netters,

considering the bug in de FPU of the Pentium, I think we have arrived at a most
strange relation between supplier and and user. So far all software has been 
delivered without a warranty for good functioning, but to my knowledge no
supplier ever sold software containing a bug he knew of. Intel, being one of 
the main hardware suppliers on the market, for some reason, thinks they can 
get away with that and leaves the proof of a ill-functioning processor to the
end-user. I suggest all PENTIUM-owners just send their processor back because
it is going to be too silly for words that in research articles the author
has to state the processors serial number, or state the result of the bug-test,
in order to have his results be taken seriously by colleagues. To cut a long 
story short, Intel is morally obliged to replace ill-functioning processors, 
unless they want to make a joke of the "Intel Inside" slogan.
This does not take away the responsibility of the scientist to carefully examine
the results we get.

Sincerely,

Andrepeter.

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From: [email-masked] (Hinsen Konrad)
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 94 09:15:00 -0500

On the contrary, this is the norm rather than an exception. Most software
packages contain bugs that the vendor knows about - it would be unreasonable
to stop distribution of a program at every bug report. Instead, bugs are
fixed in so-called "maintenance" releases from time to time.

However, many suppliers in specialist markets (like science) will at
least inform their customers about bugs and ways to circumvent them until
the next release is ready. And of course they will make the bug fixes
available to everyone - not just to those who sent a bug report.

I am afraid that this is going to happen.

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