I remember in one of Vernor Vinge's science fiction novels, whenever one space-faring civilization managed to capture a warship of another unfriendly civilizati

I remember in one of Vernor Vinge's science fiction novels, whenever one space-faring civilization managed to capture a warship of another unfriendly civilization, they usually just melted it down for scrap metal because there was no way to trust all the embedded automation.