Fun_People Archive
8 Nov
SEVEN SOFTWARE COMPANIES ADDED TO "WATCH LIST"

Date: Mon,  8 Nov 93 21:59:15 PST
To: Fun_People
Subject: SEVEN SOFTWARE COMPANIES ADDED TO "WATCH LIST"

[I knew Microsoft was a pioneer in something very hip, I just couldn't
 figure out what it was until I saw this press release.  -psl]

 From: bostic@vangogh.CS.Berkeley.EDU (Keith Bostic)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SEVEN SOFTWARE COMPANIES ADDED TO "WATCH LIST"

New York, NJ, Sept. 24 -- 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 lengthly 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 exist," he said, citing industry giant
Microsoft Corp. as a company that has become extremely successful without
resorting to software testing.

© 1993 Peter Langston