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Would Vendor Liability for Bugs Kill OSS?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the code-clean dept.

Glyn Moody writes "Bruce Schneier has written an interesting column for Wired suggesting that vendors should be made liable for bugs in their software. But where would this leave open source developers? Would what seems like a great idea actually be the death of free software?"

2 of 377 comments (clear)

  1. Software with no bugs? by frogie · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This would not only kill OSS, but the whole software industry would go bankrupt in no time.

  2. Regulation hurts the small players by vijayiyer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As usual, regulation increases the barrier to entry for a business. By making software vendors liable for bugs, they make it difficult for OSS and small shareware developers to compete. Keep in mind that the question is not whether the OSS developer will be found liable, but whether they will be sued in the first place. The legal fees alone are enough to hamper or even kill small scale software development.