Application with NO support. Is it possible?

[pavanputhra]

At time of registration to publish.ovi.com I have read in agreement that we should give support to the software which we publish.

So if Am releasing application under GNU GPL licence which tells that software has no WARRANTY of any kind. Then is it necessary to give support as specified in OVI Store agreement.

[symbianyucca]

AFAIK you do need to give support for the applications, you can not just say that there is no warranty, since that would allow you to mess users devices completely. anyway, do sent emsil to the ovi support and get the official answer from them directly.

[pavanputhra]

Thank You...
Will mail and ask once.

[tamhanna]

Hi pavan,
if you ask me, support means two things:

a) Answer user questions
b) Test the app to some extent

So I would not get too acted up over this!

[OviJustin]

At time of registration to publish.ovi.com I have read in agreement that we should give support to the software which we publish.

So if Am releasing application under GNU GPL licence which tells that software has no WARRANTY of any kind. Then is it necessary to give support as specified in OVI Store agreement.

Dear pavanputhra,

Thank you for writing in to Forum Nokia.

After reviewing your concern, we would mention that questions asked by end users who have downloaded your application, then yes it is required to provide an email address to answer their questions or issues regarding your application. Please note that providing support for applications which are published to the Ovi store is manditory (as stated in the terms and conditions), and generally creates a better user experience.

[vladest]

Btw, how I can be sure that user purchased the app on OviStore and did not stole it somewhere else (since Nokia doesnt provide any protection mechanism against pirating apps on OviStore)?

[petrib]

You can't be sure of that.

[pavanputhra]

What about the software such as Games? In case of Games usually there will not be update release. But there will be new release with new story or levels. So What does support exactly mean in such case?

[tamhanna]

What about the software such as Games? In case of Games usually there will not be update release. But there will be new release with new story or levels. So What does support exactly mean in such case?

If I send you an email asking how I can beat Mr big boss, you tell me how to do it.

Man, don't get riled up about this. You are not committing to anything large here. If you have proper work ethos (which I am sure you do), then the support is what you probably do anyways.

This passage is just in the cxontract against the really bad apples. Not something you should worry about imho.

[pavanputhra]

Thank you all...
I got to know what support can be....
Thanks again...

[mdwh]

Firstly, I think it's worth noting a distinction between warranty and customer support. Plenty of GPL software is sold commercially with support, it's a way companies can make money from open source software. However, it's useful to clarify that "support" here means "customer support" (and not say, support to fix bugs, which would indeed be contrary to the no warranty idea).

It's also possible to offer warranty protection for GPL software (however, this doesn't apply to the original developer, only the person offering the software with warranty).

I too would be interested in what is required, or if it can be tested. Simply saying that an email address must be provided is fine. As an open source developer in my spare time, I do my best to help anyone who asks. However I can't always guarantee that. Also, what if an individual developer is swamped by emails, due to unexpected popularity? (Although I suspect tamhanna is right, and it's not something worth worrying about - after all, if nothing else, I don't see how Nokia can be checking up on whether individual developers reply or not, all they can see is if an email is provided.)

I think it's also reasonable to draw a distinction in expectations depending on how much someone pays for it. Ultimately support costs money - it's one thing to expect support if you pay $30; paying $1 I'd be less expecting to get support as long as it works (and if not, a refund can be done instead). I wouldn't expect any support for something provided for free.

AFAIK you do need to give support for the applications, you can not just say that there is no warranty, since that would allow you to mess users devices completely. anyway, do sent emsil to the ovi support and get the official answer from them directly.

The GPL says that the disclaimer of warranty are to the extent permitted by law - so the GPL can say this, because doing anything illegal wouldn't be covered anyway (the same issue applies to desktop applications - the GPL won't protect you from distributing intentionally malicious code).

[tamhanna]

Hi Folks,
expect one email per 100 sales. This is the figure I have seen in my life so far...