[jeroenhd]

I agree that this project can be incredibly dangerous if people try to sell them in countries with well-developed, well-tested systems of healthcare.

However, billions of people don't have the luxury of tested and verified medical devices. The price of a single machine might be close to the monthly budget of the entire hospital. In those cases, any small hacks are welcome if they can help save a patient's life. A crappy, half-decent ventilator is way better than no ventilator at all. Until rich countries start buying hospital devices for poor countries en masse, providing cheap alternatives to proper medical devices can save lives.

The company behind this seems to be French and if it ever gets used in France without certification then they've probably got a huge lawsuit and potential criminal liability on their hands.

According to the project's website, they are trying to comply with European medical regulation (if Google translate got that right) and their Github mentions they're working with regulators. This isn't a hobby project by a bunch of bored students, the project seems to be a proper attempt at making capable medical devices that can be extended upon without IP problems.