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Privacy and security are very important, but if one is going to write a code of ethics for software, it should probably include something about not writing soft
by stephencanon 14y ago
Privacy and security are very important, but if one is going to write a code of ethics for software, it should probably include something about not writing software that kills people (see, for example, Therac-25).
- darxius 14y agoAgreed. Feel free to fork the repo and add a paragraph/section.
- rglovejoy 14y agoTherac-25 was designed to cure people, not kill them (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25). If we are talking about software that is used in drones or missiles, that is a different matter, and one that the oath should address.
- Jtsummers 14y agoIt was designed to treat them, but was designed poorly. Due to a combination of poor risk assessment and QA hardware and software mechanisms to ensure safety were not in place. That is an ethical lapse on the part of the individuals and teams that developed it.
- betterunix 14y agoTherac-25 was not well designed, which is a much greater ethical problem than designing a machine to kill people. If the failure of your software can kill people, it is unethical to just hack together a solution.