What happens when software becomes a matter of life and death?

Excerpt from the article:

Many might say that Karen Sandler, a former corporate lawyer turned executive director of the Software Freedom Conservancy (part of the not-for-profit sector), has a big heart. She is a senior figure in the free and open source software community, but I suspect not rich – and undoubtedly not earning what she could have done if she had stayed practising the law.