This is actually (IMHO, as always) a rather attractive idea. It would involve representatives of the open source movement approaching FDA and saying, "We want to make your job easier, and we want to make medicine safer and less expensive. Let's sit down and decide how we will identify a version of Linux that will pass muster with FDA and that FDA will "validate"".
This is a project that I would be happy to assist with when the decks are cleared a little around here. I found the gentleman at the FDA to be very reasonable and very approachable. And, yes, seeing that what is going on at NSA is a kind of validation process anyway, perhaps this is just a question of getting the right hand to talk to the left hand. A good rule of thumb concerning surgery is don't get an operation unless you are a) bleeding to death or b) the pain makes it so you can't sleep. Glasses do not qualify as a reason. I like mine. John >Say there was one, FDA....etc. approved version of Linux....perhaps the NSA >version would be a good place to start...would that not encourage the use of >Linux? What might at first seem like an onerous hurdle could in fact be a >blessing if there were a way to fund such an effort. > >I too will stick to my glasses.... > > >Joseph
