[x86_64Ubuntu]

Why does there have to be a middle ground? Things seemed fine before all the DRM. And I'm not sure too many of your things actually REQUIRE DRM to be carried out. And as far as your warranty FUD, it's known in other fields that if you make an unapproved modification to an item, or have it done by someone else that it voids the warranty. This is a problem that's already been solved that you are trying to use to support the case for DRM.

[bricej13]

I must have done a poor job at communicating if you think I was trying to support the case for DRM. My purpose was to help people understand where Deere is coming from and some of the details that the "John Deere Bad!" comments just don't capture.

> And I'm not sure too many of your things actually REQUIRE DRM to be carried out.

I actually agree. They're using DRM as a legal fix for what is a technical problem.

I feel like you missed the point about the warranty. We probably agree that if someone re-flashes their controllers they've voided their warranty. The problem for Deere comes when someone screws it up, flashes back to factory settings and takes it in for warranty work. They could have done tens of thousands of dollars of damage. This is not FUD to Deere, it is an actual risk. Their 'fix' for that problem is DRM. (Again, I'm not promoting DRM)

[ddingus]

Sure seems to me Deere could implement an incremental state storage of some kind to get around the "flash it before fix it under warranty / annual maintenance" problem.

It also seems to me Deere could simply quote the repair too. Hell, bundle it in with financing so the user learns their lesson without breaking the bank.

So, farmer bob mods his machine, breaks it.

I know Deere does a ton of actual hard testing. They know what, "damn, where did that log or boulder come from" looks like. They also know what, "it is running hot / over spec" looks like too.

Deere sees a freshly flashed machine, and it goes as follows:

Why did you flash it?

Why did you not call us first so we understand what happened?

That conversation ends up either a warranty / maintenance conversation, or not.

Then, the work to put the machine back to spec gets quoted.

Farmer Bob pays up, perhaps with a loan, and everyone moves on.