• AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml
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    9 months ago

    My car isn’t even getting updates anymore and it’s fewer than ten years old. I’ll never put tech in my body until it’s legally required to be supported, and also open source so I can support it

    • Rikudou_Sage@lemmings.world
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      9 months ago

      With neural implants open source is not the main issue. Sure, it’s nice, but it’s not like I’m gonna do a brain surgery because I did RTFM.

      • tabular@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        There are pacemakers with bugs shocking hearts incorrectly and companies can’t help. They’re bust or don’t have the copyright to the code or just won’t help - buy our new product next year.

        It’s not difficult to imagine malicious brain implants when the users are not in control. Being open source, or rather “free software”, is equally a main issue.

        • Kbobabob@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          There are pacemakers with bugs shocking hearts incorrectly, and companies can’t help.

          Do you have a source for that? I work with these pacemaker companies fairly frequently, and I’m not aware of this, and a quick search didn’t turn up anything.

      • MartianSands@sh.itjust.works
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        9 months ago

        Perhaps not, but it would make it far easier for any sympathetic brain surgeon you managed to find who was willing to try and fix the problem for you.

        The key thing is not needing that specific company to help, but needing generic expert assistance is fine

    • ChrisLicht@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      I wonder if companies should be forced to provide a product’s core tech diagrams, material science, and major code base revisions to a kind of escrow, which is then released when the product is sunsetted.

      • AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml
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        9 months ago

        That would be ideal. If you’re not going to support it anymore, then you shouldn’t be allowed to keep the knowledge of it locked up.