Unfortunately, the presentations were focused on the hardware and look-and-feel rather than on software. Avante was notable for bringing a group of tech guys that gave a long-winded discussion of system architecture that was mostly lost on the non-technical audience. Its a shame, too, since the software issues are probably significantly more critical than the hardware, although the major capital expenditure will be the hardware

I'm not sure of how open-source ES&S's software is, although from your comment, you seem to know that it is. I'd assume that even if the boxes use some kind of embedded Linux, the tabulator software runs on Windoze machines.

I think the importance of open-source is a bit overstated since voters and most election officials probably have no way of knowing if the executable code on the machines has anything to do with the source code that was reviewed and certified. In all the layers of complexity and contracting, it might be relatively easy for a rogue or implanted configuration management person to slip an uncertified module or library into the final system image. And even if you assume no nefarious intent, I could certainly understand a panicked developer slipping in an uncertified patch if a show-stopper bug is discovered in the 11th hour.