[PLUG-TALK] Farm equipment repair: software key issue

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 13 Apr 2017, David Mandel wrote:

David,

   Thanks for the insights. A friend of mine used to collect old tractors; I
think he sold the collection when his employer at the time moved him to
Perth, Australia.

> On the whole, I think there is a real need for OpenSource designs in
> agriculture - for hardware as well as software - and for small equipment
> as well as for the giant stuff. There are attempts to do this, but most of
> them fall somewhat short of the need at this point.

   It's important to remember that all of us pay for proprietary software
installed in equipment that produces fundamental goods such as food. The
costs to the producers are passed up to us in the prices we pay retail, just
as we pay the costs of shop-lifting, cart theft and damage, waste by leaving
frozen goods on a shelf when the shopper decided to not buy them.

Rich