Off Topic, Interested in Opinions

[Robert Potts <robert_(_at_)_pottsdata_(_dot_)_com>]

Please reply to my address, and do not clog the list with replies to 
this question. Thank you.

Doing research on a problem a client has recently I stumbled on this in 
the documentation for Colinear System's Response For Windows direct 
marketing software (which integrates with MS SQL Server or Oracle):

[Error messages are a fact of life. They are generated by even the best 
systems under ideal conditions. Environmental, operator, hardware and 
other factors will periodically conspire to cause problems for any 
application which is subjected to significant load over an extended 
period of time. Most direct marketing applications report errors, 
regardless of severity, to the screen for an operator to read and react 
to. Nagging problems could present consistent and repetitive error 
behavior for quite some time before any pattern is ever detected. 
Database corruption or loss— which could have been prevented by timely 
intervention—is the usual result. The seriousness of the situation 
depends, of course, on the importance of the data and the exact nature 
of the deficiency. /Response/ doesn't want to take such risks; nor does 
it leave to the enduser to record and react to error messages. Instead, 
Response has two independent error tracking subsystems which serve to 
isolate, collect and to distribute error messages to personnel whose 
responsibilities and expertise warrant such action. An ascii text log of 
all such errors is maintained as well for historical reference. Although 
users are shown any errors in real-time, separate systems collect and 
distribute this historical data (like any other data) throughout the 
system. The result is a live, ongoing system /audit/ which faciliitates 
technical support, diagnostics and trouble-shooting, hardware defect 
tracking (at the workstation and/or server level) and overall problem 
resolution. Each error condition is tracked by date / time / operator / 
program used / error status / description et. al. Much time and effort 
went into making these subsystems powerful and stable in an effort to 
head off problems before they do any real damage.]

Question: With the fact that, according to my client, this software was 
very expensive, the customer support has been sparse at best, and the 
problems using it fairly overwhelming, is this attitude justifiably 
turning my stomach, or am I just fretting over a cruel "fact of life" 
which I can do nothing about? Is it ridiculous for me to encourage my 
client to move to another operating system and investigate having 
development of his own "direct marketing" software, perhaps based on 
existing gpl software?

Am I wrong to be somewhat enraged?

Please understand I am *not* asking support for Response, SQL Server, or 
the Microsoft Operating System in any form.

Seeking guidance and opinions. Thank you for your valuable time.

Robert Potts