[long] Re: Legal traps in open source

[Sam Couter]

Alex Satrapa <grail at goldweb.com.au> wrote:
> actually done), the "vibrating compactor" operators (used to be called 
> Steam Rollers until they weren't steam powered anymore) - they only need 
> to know how to use an accelerator, brake and steering wheel - and the 

No brakes on them - just a single lever. Push it forwards to move
forwards, pull it backwards to move backwards.

But they steer in the middle (they're articulated) which makes them
handle funny. That, and the fact that they have zero suspension and
weigh upwards of fifteen tonnes and are top-heavy means you shouldn't
race them. ;)

> has the professional indemnity insurance (even though every contract 
> says, "I'm not liable").  You only need the one.

There's only so far that an "I'm not liable" clause will get you. You're
still liable for your own negligence, for example.

> previous employer for example).  Making software manufacturers liable 
> for faults will merely force the stupid people out very quickly.

It would cause software to become expensive, to the point that the
commodity PC market would disappear. Then software would become
extremely expensive, since markets would be reduced so much.

We'd go back to the sixties, with only "Big Iron" in existence and most
software development done in-house.

Also, those of us who work on Free software would all of a sudden become
liable for the code we write. Most Free software developers wouldn't be
Free software developers anymore.
-- 
Sam "Eddie" Couter  |  mailto:sam at couter.dropbear.id.au
Debian Developer    |  mailto:eddie at debian.org
                    |  jabber:sam at jabber.topic.com.au
OpenPGP fingerprint:  A46B 9BB5 3148 7BEA 1F05  5BD5 8530 03AE DE89 C75C
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