Daniel James wrote:
> Hi Ralf,
>
>> A
>> pilot shouldn't be a "user", he has got the responsibility to 100% take
>> care, even if auto-pilot is running.
>
> In this case, the computer seems to have shut down the engines because
> of a programming error, without the pilots noticing that anything was
> wrong. I'd call that a design fault...
>
> I think this scenario could become more common, now that so many
> vehicles have computers. That's why the humans should be in charge of
> the computers, not the other way round.
>
> Cheers!
>
> Daniel

Modern planes are designed borderline. A lot of jets only can be
controlled by computers and very fast detector, e.g. military jets. I
guess there are stall-protections and stuff like that. A pilot is the
one (I don't have a flight licence ;)) who needs to know about his
plane. If I use Linux and I'm an idiot and make mistakes, nobody gets
hurt, so I don't need to know about everything, but a pilot needs to
know everything, if he doesn't know everything about his plane, he isn't
a pilot. If Daniel James is programing an audio-application that is
buggy, nobody "really" gets hurts, but someone who is programming the
software of a plane can't do any experiments, he has to be perfect,
perfect and perfect, BUT the pilot is the one who needs to say if his
plane is fine or not, if a pilot isn't able to do that, it's
irresponsible if he leave the ground. A pilot needs to say "I don't
trust that software, because I don't understand the source code and
because of that, I don't fly with this plane". Thinking forward, an
error in the statics of an atomic plant and a programming error for a
plane's software can become a much more dramatic scenario, if they will
have a date. When I was young it was possible to repair cars and
motorbikes with a hand axe. If I get engine trouble in the Sahara, I
would prefer a car without computer, that can be provisional patched.

I guess I nearly agree with you ... but the point might be, that
computers are often displaced. It isn't the design of a computer and
it's software, it's what people can command and what not. We are ready
to experiment with making music using computers, but we need to become
more intelligent, before we can control planes by computers.

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