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Story: Open source computer drivers licence goes liveTotal Replies: 4
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SFN

Aug 24, 2005
5:26 AM EDT 		Now if they could just figure out a way to make being licensed mandatory before being allowed to own a computer.
Tsela

Aug 24, 2005
7:34 AM EDT 		Difficult, although it's something I've been advocating for a long time. Computers are much more complex pieces of hardware than cars (and all the software that is on them is usually not that simple either), and putting one in the hands of unexperienced people can lead to just as big catastrophes as giving a car to someone who's never learned to drive one, especially given the wilderness that is the Internet. Yet while nobody in their right mind would ever give a car to someone without a license, they don't mind giving a computer to someone who's never used one, without even a tutorial or a simple book.

And before someone accuses me of elitism, let me ask this question: is it elitism to ask that only people with a license may drive a car? Or is it just common sense? Why should it be different with a computer, which is likely to contain private information while being connected to that wild and unsafe place that is the Internet?

People don't want to learn, many people will say. So what? If they don't want to learn to drive a car then they don't get to drive one. Why this should be different with computers is beyond me...
Abe

Aug 24, 2005
10:55 AM EDT 		Although I agree with your thoughts, I like to point out one big difference. Driving a car without any training or certification is not as dangerous as using a computer. A reckless driver due to lack of training or familiarity on the road could be fatal to people, running a computer is not as severe. But you are right, running a computer on the Internet is risky but does not endanger the safety of any one.
SFN

Aug 24, 2005
12:13 PM EDT 		"running a computer on the Internet is risky but does not endanger the safety of any one"

Not yet but Microsoft is working on it.
Abe

Aug 24, 2005
1:34 PM EDT 		Yah, I remember someone mentioning a conversation between Bill & GM CEO

BG: I just wish GM can make cars cheap as our OS.

CEO: We could, but we can't afford the twice a day crashes we experience with your OS.

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