[kwlug-disc] One way to kill open source

[Chris Frey]

On Mon, May 11, 2009 at 02:33:34PM -0400, Richard Weait wrote:
> 
> The article suggests: 
> "Software companies could be held responsible for the security and
> efficacy of their products, if a new European Commission consumer
> protection proposal becomes law."
> 
> This is unlikely, if enacted, to apply to Free Software; no contractual
> agreement.  It will increase the cost of proprietary software as they
> scramble to pay for insurance.  Proprietary software quality will not
> improve.  

Actually, throw enough money and time at it, and proprietary software will
improve.  Otherwise they would go out of business.

Like a scenario I read (I think on slashdot):

	Customer:  Are you properly insured?
	Software house:  Of course we are... all pro software shops are
		insured.  That's why our software costs $23,000.

Computers would become a luxury item for the rich, or more likely,
software development would move to a cheaper environment, say, in web
services.  Perhaps selling software to run on someone else's machine
is too risky, but selling a service online that could fail occasionally
would be ok.

- Chris