What an interesting time this is in the consumer tech world! Samsung has started using open source software in some of their more upscale washing machines. Here is what I found this spring on a laundry machine control panel in a local appliance store:

Open Source Laundry Disclaimer

What I really want is for appliances to be hackable, but this is certainly a good start, makes me feel oddly at home in the wholesale appliance showroom. Now, this raises some interesting questions, though:

• what version of OpenSSL is it running?
• how do you apply critical security updates?

The sales associate does not have answers to these questions. If I was a poet, I would now have to write a haiku. But I am not a poet, so I quote from the README of the gst-plugins-bad lurking within:

THE BAD

--- "That an accusation?"

No perfectly groomed moustache or any amount of fine clothing is going to
cover up the truth - these plug-ins are Bad with a capital B.
They look fine on the outside, and might even appear to get the job done, but
at the end of the day they're a black sheep. Without a golden-haired angel
to watch over them, they'll probably land in an unmarked grave at the final
showdown.