alt Hacker NewsThat’s interesting. I’m really more curious about modern precision machines that are repairable on the field by third parties. Do you know if these would fall into that category? The main thing that makes John Deere anti-competitive and adversarial is their policy of not allowing third-party repairs.
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That's a good question, I'll chase that up when I have a chance.
As a general rule (there will be exceptions), Australian companies don't do that kind of lock-in .. Australia has strong consumer protection laws although it does currently lacks a "right to repair".
* https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/problem-with-a-product-or-...
* https://lawpath.com.au/blog/what-is-the-right-to-repair
The mechanical side of capital equipment maintenance is straight forward enough here, there's strong community of mechanically savvy types and generally mechanics and engineering aren't "opaque" as things can be visually inspected and taken apart .. software, however, is a whole other level.
I like to encourage open stacks, eg: Flight Gear has a lot in it ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FlightGear ) and can be used to spin off grid coverage planning for aerial platforms with sensor feedback integration, not altogether too far away from something similar for ground platforms.
In the agricultural domain in Australia farmers can flex back against companies to a reasonable degree given the number and size of co-op's here (eg: https://www.cbh.com.au/ is owned by local farmers about me and can rumble in a way that John Deere has to respond to or drop out of consideration for billions in sales over a cycle of years)
The real problem I see with a company like (say) SwamFarm is being taken over by VC money, as the NZ GPS stock 'shock' collar invisible fence company was recently .. and now dairy farmers have their daily stock control decisions being "passed through" an off shore third party that can siphon data, increase charges, and enshittify.
Not allow is not the right phrase. I know from surfing a few tractor forums a few years back, in regard to JD in the US, third party repairs do happen, parts brought from JD and the mechanic or shop verified the repair as complete - but not fully operational until a JD tech travelled out and ran their unlocking tool over the machine.
Australia - I can't tell you as in my locale there was a move away from JD so no new JD's much - so the businesses selling them exclusively declined as well. The local farms are now even moving away from older New Hollands that got briefly popular when they first hit the scene but many are with never ending issues where they saved money - like using aluminium alloy for high pressure hydraulic pump gear and shaft - oh they do bend ... :rolls eyes:
What's a new JD look like these days. Aussie's do things a bit different, other parts of the world people might gnash teeth and complain - we just don't fucking go there any more and bitch quietly. I though tend towards the more hostile reaction with subtle jabs their company / business is on a downward path and bitch loudly to any poor sod unable to find an exit quick enough.