Ask HN: Should coders usually offer a warranty for bug-free software?
3 comments
Contractually, you can make whatever agreements you want.
I would consider someone offering a warrantee for bug free software to be an inexperienced amateur. I would consider someone expecting a warrantee for bug free software an unrealistic and thus bad client.
Now obviously, if you are making software for a medical device and you are willing to pay for what that entails, you can get very close to “probably won’t kill someone” but it still probably won’t be bug free.
Now obviously, if you are making software for a medical device and you are willing to pay for what that entails, you can get very close to “probably won’t kill someone” but it still probably won’t be bug free.
I would consider also "No". If you i would consider to offer a "bug free" version i would charge a lot more for it and i would include a description of what is a bug and what is not considered a bug. Also i would include a description under which circumstances the software should be run (like hardware, software). If the customer updates host OS or changes platform/browser i can't warrant bug free behavior.
Unless you're compensated multiple times what a no-warranty version would cost, and do it for an industry where bug-free matters. And even then that's a question for the company lawyers as well. In short: if you ask on HN, it's almost certain you shouldn't try.
What you may be interested in is some form of a license / retainer, where you're available to the company as a contractor for X amount of time to fix potential issues raised. But don't ever mention bug-free and rent out your time, not results.