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This isn't (or doesn't have to be) about laws specifying how all software has to be made.

What they need to specify is the standards for software that certain types of organizations can use. Like government agencies, government contractors, medical organizations, construction and engineering firms, and probably some other kinds of large private businesses, depending on their industry.

Basically, if the software your organization uses can cause the level of destruction that Horizon did, it needs to have specific certifications, or you can't use it.

In order for such software to be certified, it needs to meet certain clearly-defined standards of quality, potentially including having all the technical leads of some level (or just all the developers, depending on various factors) be licensed, and have their licenses on the line of something like this scandal occurs.

It's not a panacea, and it would definitely be an absolute bear to get the terms of all of it defined both clearly and in a way that is likely to actually produce a quality product, but IMO it is likely to be worth it in the long haul.



Transparency and competition seem to work better than certifications and credentials.

Just mandate open source if using public money.


How's it working for those postal workers who committed suicide?


That software wasn't open source, was it? I don't understand how that's supposed to be relevant.

If someone prefers solution B to solution A, bringing up a situation that had neither is not a counterargument.


think of it as accreditation profiles. the highest is for life threatening cases like flight/medical, the lowest might be government expenses.


While I personally love that idea, I suspect it's too complex to fly in actual attempts to get something like this in place.


the same could be said for aerospatial regulations, and we still manage to do them. civil constructions are mindbogglingly complicated and we still manage.

all it takes is enough people to die, and/or for rich people to lose enough money and it'll become the rule.




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