Re:Microsoft President: We Need a Hippocratic Oath for Softw...
by tech2 on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @04:48AM
(#24118449)
It should be immaterial whether you chop down the Christmas tree or set a pre-programmed robot capable of doing the same on its way.
The programming of said robot isn't the bad act here, it's the act the robot actually performs.
The danger of being castigated for having written something that wasn't used is that we then get into the area of thought-crimes.
Software is fundamentally different because until you run it it has no consequences, and even if you run it, it can be contained. I can write a worm and not release it on world. In that regard, it is more like engineering _plans_. I can draw up plans for a building that is designed to collapse with X number of persons inside -- in fact I can imagine either of the two assignments given as an exercise in University.
No reason to make more laws: it should be immaterial whether I chop down the Christmas tree at the local town square or program a robot to do it.