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ChuckMcMyesterday at 11:32 PM1 replyview on HN

Exactly this. (and it is a false dichotomy to argue infinite liability).

To Terr_'s point, if you were publishing open source you would also publish exactly the things you intended it to be used for and anything else would violate your warranty (possibly implied) that it does what the documentation says it does.

There is a huge amount of tort law that covers exactly when it becomes a problem for you the creator vs you the user in your own project. And that liability is also based on once you know something bad could happen you make an effort to notify people[1].

[1] https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/2026/Clorox-Agre...


Replies

Ajedi32yesterday at 11:47 PM

Software can be copied infinitely, so even $1 of liability is effectively infinite since an unlimited number of people can potentially use it and sue you when it blows up.

Nobody's going to be distributing software on the internet for free if the cost of insurance alone precludes that.

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