[Asterisk-Users] Re: Advice on OS Choice

[Andrew Kohlsmith]

On Friday 15 October 2004 15:19, Joe Greco wrote:
> I don't know.  I've been in a position where it's been a concern.  Have
> you?

That condition should never come up.

> However, the electronics shop staff at many larger hospital facilities are
> sharp cookies.  The possibilities for "well let's just do..." are quite
> extensive.  These people are not automatically qualified to go changing
> the code on these devices just because they've got it and they're able to
> read C, but providing the code would be unnecessary temptation.  They lack
> the background on the hardware, and more importantly the resulting product
> isn't certified, so now you have an unknown.

If they're sharp cookies then they're also smart enough to know that they are 
liable if they fuck something like that up.  Having access to the source is a 
red herring in this case.  They could just as easily tinker with hex dumps 
and try to make it work.

> The obvious answer is: don't distribute the source, which is merely an
> attractive nuisance.

I suppose, but it doesn't mean that having the source handy makes it a 
problem.  Regardless of whether the source exists or not the policy 
surrounding the equipment is every bit as important as the existence of 
source.

-A.