IJMC P.E.T.S.

                         IJMC - P.E.T.S.

You know, I'd have to say P.E.T.S. is a good thing. Yep, I'd have to say 
it if I believed it...I'm getting tired of beta software at gold prices. 
But then again, some of these companies still do good things...I mean, 
the QuakeWorld beta for Macintosh is out...which is good. It means I 
don't have to wonder how to afford to get my Mac friend a PC so he can 
leave the lab once in a while...<grin>                             -dave





       SEVEN SOFTWARE COMPANIES ADDED TO "WATCH LIST"
 
 (New York, NY)  -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Software
 (PETS) announced today that seven more software companies have been
 added to the group's "watch list" of companies that regularly
 practice software testing.
 
 "There is no need for software to be mistreated in this way so that
 companies like these can market new products," said Ken Granola,
 spokesperson for PETS.  "Alternative methods of testing these
 products are available."
 
 According to PETS, these companies force software to undergo lengthy
 and arduous tests, often without rest, for hours or days at a time.
 Employees are assigned to "break" the software by any means
 necessary, and inside sources report that they often joke about
 "torturing" the software.
 
 It's no joke, said Granola.  Innocent programs, from the day they are
 compiled, are cooped up in tiny rooms and crashed for hours on end.
 They spend their whole lives on dirty, ill-maintained computers, and
 are unceremoniously deleted when they're not needed anymore.
 
 Granola said the software is kept in unsanitary conditions and is
 infested with bugs.
 
 We know alternatives to this horror exists, He said, citing industry
 giant Microsoft Corporation as a company that has become extremely
 successful without resorting to software testing.


IJMC April 1998 Archives