M
Hi,
I'm really enjoying this discussion, and wish everyone all the best of luck on this project! I have some prior experience in process control
(I currently work in mobile dispatching now), so in some respects, I'm retired from my controls career. I always felt that there was a need for this kind of thing. The topic is just too big to allow any proprietary interests to mis-manage. But before I join in, I need to understand some things.
I am jumping in the middle, so if this has already been dealt with, my apologies in advance.
I'd like to voice my concerns regarding safety:
The Safety Issue
The appeal of creating an open source project to deal with a very high risk software project is courageous. It is likely that if this project is successful, it will make the world a much better place. A fundamental raison d'etre is to enhance safety, by creating enhanced quality, consistency, and usability.
But let's not forget - the risk. Or rather, the risks (off hand, I'm sure there are more):
1. If the LinuxPLC fails to work properly (programmer error), there could be serious property damage, or loss of life. At what point, and under what conditions, will software produced by this project be deemed ready for prime time? In the mean time, what measures are being taken to make sure that no one uses the alpha/beta software inappropriately? Perhaps that is a long ways in the future. However, I think that safety must be the highest priority. Period.
2. If people misuse it, then what? Who's liable? Is there any way to protect against misuse? If the software is freely available, what is there to stop anyone (engineer or no) who is under constraints to cut corners using a half-baked tool?
3. Upgrades to production systems. Will every version of the software be tested to ensure compatibility with all prior versions? Will there
be an explicitly defined policy for implementing new version upgrades? Is the product being architected so that it can be upgraded while it is
running?
4. Liability. If there ultimately is a catastrophe caused by the use of software created using this project, for whatever reason, what then?
There is a responsibility present with these efforts that doesn't exist for those people who are commited to slaying the evil empire. One of
the smartest things Bill Gates ever did was to make sure that it would be very difficult to use his products for real time systems. It freed
him to generate revenue by charging for upgrades of buggy code. It may turn out to be his downfall. If so, then history will record it. I
think it is up to everyone to make sure that the decision by LinuxPLC to assume the risk doesn't ultimately benefit proprietary interests, for
all the wrong reasons.
I think that the this project is ideal for Open Source development. And, I think that the direction that it is currently on is the correct
one (build something, test it, re-think the concept). However, I think that the aspects of this project that make it different from
applications that are not safety critical must be clearly understood in advance. And they must be properly managed. If it hasn't already been
done, policies and practices need to be designed and implemented to take care of safety issues.
Otherwise, LinuxPLC could turn into a real nightmare.
best regards,
Mark
_______________________________________________
LinuxPLC mailing list
[email protected]
http://linuxplc.org/mailman/listinfo/linuxplc
I'm really enjoying this discussion, and wish everyone all the best of luck on this project! I have some prior experience in process control
(I currently work in mobile dispatching now), so in some respects, I'm retired from my controls career. I always felt that there was a need for this kind of thing. The topic is just too big to allow any proprietary interests to mis-manage. But before I join in, I need to understand some things.
I am jumping in the middle, so if this has already been dealt with, my apologies in advance.
I'd like to voice my concerns regarding safety:
The Safety Issue
The appeal of creating an open source project to deal with a very high risk software project is courageous. It is likely that if this project is successful, it will make the world a much better place. A fundamental raison d'etre is to enhance safety, by creating enhanced quality, consistency, and usability.
But let's not forget - the risk. Or rather, the risks (off hand, I'm sure there are more):
1. If the LinuxPLC fails to work properly (programmer error), there could be serious property damage, or loss of life. At what point, and under what conditions, will software produced by this project be deemed ready for prime time? In the mean time, what measures are being taken to make sure that no one uses the alpha/beta software inappropriately? Perhaps that is a long ways in the future. However, I think that safety must be the highest priority. Period.
2. If people misuse it, then what? Who's liable? Is there any way to protect against misuse? If the software is freely available, what is there to stop anyone (engineer or no) who is under constraints to cut corners using a half-baked tool?
3. Upgrades to production systems. Will every version of the software be tested to ensure compatibility with all prior versions? Will there
be an explicitly defined policy for implementing new version upgrades? Is the product being architected so that it can be upgraded while it is
running?
4. Liability. If there ultimately is a catastrophe caused by the use of software created using this project, for whatever reason, what then?
There is a responsibility present with these efforts that doesn't exist for those people who are commited to slaying the evil empire. One of
the smartest things Bill Gates ever did was to make sure that it would be very difficult to use his products for real time systems. It freed
him to generate revenue by charging for upgrades of buggy code. It may turn out to be his downfall. If so, then history will record it. I
think it is up to everyone to make sure that the decision by LinuxPLC to assume the risk doesn't ultimately benefit proprietary interests, for
all the wrong reasons.
I think that the this project is ideal for Open Source development. And, I think that the direction that it is currently on is the correct
one (build something, test it, re-think the concept). However, I think that the aspects of this project that make it different from
applications that are not safety critical must be clearly understood in advance. And they must be properly managed. If it hasn't already been
done, policies and practices need to be designed and implemented to take care of safety issues.
Otherwise, LinuxPLC could turn into a real nightmare.
best regards,
Mark
_______________________________________________
LinuxPLC mailing list
[email protected]
http://linuxplc.org/mailman/listinfo/linuxplc