They hack into a John Deere tractor to fix it for free, and the first thing they do is… install Doom.

As is the case with modern cars, the most advanced tractors are mostly computers on wheels

This allows you to perform complex tasks such as fine-tuning the plowing method or installing biometric sensors to analyze the land or crops.

But in case John Deerethis computerization makes Tractor repairs are not possible except in official workshops. This caused a lot of controversy because limits the right to repair buyers as much as possible, and prevents free competition that reduces the cost of repairs.

John Deere defends itself by claiming that the computer system of their tractors is very complex, as well as a trade secret, and if it were open to everyone, there could be serious problems with the tractor due to poor tuning.

In addition, this computerized control allows John Deere completely disable the tractor if it is stolenleaving it completely useless. This happened with John Deere tractors stolen by the Russian army from Ukraine, which were disabled remotely.

But naturally many buyers disagree with this: if they buy a tractor, then it is theirs, and they should have the right to fix it wherever they want. They even repair themselves.

According to a Wired account, a group of hackers called Hospital codesin favor of the right to repair, hacked a couple models of John Deere tractors They were completely blocked. And to show that they have full access to the operating system, launched Doom on the tractor screen.

But not any Doom. This is a version modified by a modder to drive a tractor and “mow down” the bad guys in the field. You can see it in this video:

Sick Codes assures that it was the difficult task that led them”months of work“. They had to completely hack into the Linux system used by the John Deere 4240 tractor.

And while some basic functionality can be accessed with a software hack, full root access requires a hard connection to the tractor’s motherboard.

Now they are developing a tool that will take care of everything, so that John Deere tractors can be repaired at any machine shop.

Due to criticism, the company announced in March that will allow access to the configuration software to some independent repair shops.