People don't mind using mechanics or A&Ps because we're told it's necessary.

The difference is, anybody with a nearby library can learn how to fix a car or
an airplane. This is not true of Windows, or any closed source software. The
innards of windows are a secret. You cannot be sure of what the operating
system (or any commercial program) is =really= doing. I find that scary. With
open source, even if I personally don't want to open the hood, so to speak, I
know that there are lots of geeks who have already looked under the hood, and
any nefarious stuff would have already been publicized in a place I could look.

Imagine having a new aircraft come on the market, but nobody is allowed to do a
preflight. The mechanism for rasing the gear is a secret. The avionics are
coupled to the autopilot, but you are not permitted to know how. And you may
not fly without the transponde operating in mode Q.

Jose

--
(for Email, make the obvious changes in my address)