That's only protected by patents, and those expire after 20 years or less. It's pretty easy to develop controller emulators. Heck, within a few years I don't expect I'll work on any "real" servers at work...it'll all be "virtual machines."
It's the software they have you by the short hairs on -- figure that's copyrighted for 100 years or better. If Mama Deere, Boss Cummins, or Dear Allison don't want to release the software to make their stuff go, they don't have to. I wonder if any company buying heavy equipment requires the code even get escrowed in case the company ceases to be.
And I just don't see there being a big draw for computer geeks to reverse engineer the propietary software to control these engines, transmissions, etc.
Most fire apparatus is in the same boat now -- even our 2001 Ladder I'm not so sure we'll have the ability to maintain it through it's planned 30 year life thanks to the electronics. The newer trucks as "fly by wire" and multiplexed electronics become more and more integral, you're going to see the builders start to age trucks off the market at 15 years by not supporting the software to run them anymore. Fire apparatus replacement in many communities like mine has always been driven more by technical obsolence then wearing out...the 'puters will shorten that obsolence even more.
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