[Asterisk-Users] Re: Advice on OS Choice

[Michael Giagnocavo]

>The issue isn't building the software.  The issue is in taking the new 
>software and installing it on a system that they have absolutely no
>authority 
>to install it on, ending up killing someone and then pointing back at the 
>source vendor and saying "but they gave me the source!  How was I supposed
>to 
>know I shouldn't have installed it on the heart-lung machine!?"
>
>Again; having access to the source is not the problem in your scenario; the

>problem lies in the policy for upgrading or installing software on 
>life-critical machines not being followed.

I agree with that. But, what's going to be held up in court? As a lawyer for
a medical equipment corp, which route are you going to take to be safe?

Imagine a toaster that ships with a booklet that shows the schematics and
shows people how to "rebuild" the toaster. Then some person (either a
9-yr-old or an experienced electrician) uses the instructions, and fries
themselves. Or the next person who uses the toaster starts a fire. When it
gets to court, you can bet that the lawyers are going to try to blame the
company for "making it easier to modify the toaster". Even though it's
utterly silly, that's how the US legal system works. No one is responsible
for their own mistakes. 

-Michael