Debating the morality behind software development

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What is moralilty?

Should the designer of the baseball bat be blamed for some nimrod using a baseball bat to bludgeon someone to death? No, of course not. Morality has nothing to do with the thing, it has to do with the person who's hands it's in at the moment. So for me to decide not to develop some piece of software on moral grounds, is my decision alone. I can go work somewhere else. Just because the software will be built anyway is not my problem or my responsibility. If I do build a piece of software without realizing a particularly immoral application down the road, I am still absolved, because I built it with good intentions. The immoral use of it is the problem of that future user with bad intentions. In other words, to echo many of the other commenters, morality is not an inherent attribute of the technology, but in the way it is used. So do what your conscience tells you to do and don't carry the burden of how someone may use your creation x years down the road.

Posted by: tomnator   Posted on: 10/16/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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