It may be free software but it's also a commercial enterprise.

Furthermore, Chromium is free software, Chrome isn't. Perhaps Google should be liable for distributing Chrome in such a sorry state, but not for what lands in Chromium.

I don't really disagree, but to play devil's advocate a little, if I was giving away free knives and someone cut themselves, would I be to blame in any way?

If they were known to be unsafe, such as heavily rusted and the handle was loose, then yes, you could be liable.

If software companies sold knives, this is how it would work:

You market them as iButter knives. They are actually carving knives. Half of the users are 14 years old.

You give the knives away for free, but the knives steal 1% of any food they cut.

Sometimes butter knife needs an software update in the middle of cooking.

If you sharpen the knives you lose warranty. Company says you should buy a new one regularly.

They come with a bug, when iButter knife is used on Cheese, they spontaneously transform into chainsaws.

The company says it's not a real problem because using iButter knife on anything else is against EULA

The company would be knowingly made of lead but neither owners or buyers would be informed of that by the company who is themselves heavily invested in lead.

Of course, by design the knives would also need to take a bit of the user's blood.

Are you marketing it as a safer alternative? Do you have a near monopoly on knives?

I said "near monopoly". Companies with an outsized share of the market may be subject to extra scrutiny.

Please dont make up alarmist analogies to try and support your point. You introduce unnecessary points of confusion with 1) whether your scenario even fits and 2) whether the outcomes even make sense.

Stick to the actual situation wherever possible.

Alarmist? In Britain we have sent ~800 innocent people to prison because a programming error said they stole money. The software development company testified in court that their software was great, despite many inconsitencies being pointed out.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Post_Office_scandal

I think it should be obvious that a poorly designed product can do much more damage than it costs, both through stolen data and by causing legal action

As software intrudes into physical world, the potential for damage will keep growing.

You should read any one of Mark Russinovich's amusing novels on viruses destroying the world. You might be convinced we should stop using any software.

Then use this real example, not hypothetical dead grandmothers.