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Re: secure installation



On Fri, Aug 17, 2007 at 07:15:06PM +0100, Joe wrote:
> >
> >Pat wrote:
> >
> >> Whose responsibility is it, in the US if you manufacture a defective
> >>product legally it is your responsibility if someone is harmed. 
> >
> There's a bit of a difference between a defective product and one
> incorrectly used. When a driver knocks down a pedestrian, should
> the car manufacturer be the party that gets prosecuted?

Cars are a difficult example.  Experience has shown that they are 
inherently dangerous in the hands of the driving population as a
whole.  People will die, by design.  That's not a defective product,
that's a dangerous product.  The car industry knows this and spends
money trying to mitigate the problem, and governments know this and
regulate to try to mitigate the problem.

Software failures *are* in the worst cases life threatening, and 
everyday non-safety-critical systems can easily be a very serious
nuisiance to other users.

Regards,
Paddy



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