What about adding an extra element to human gameplay - software that can be installed onto turrets and maybe RC or some other structures?

Proprietary software ---

+ Just Works(TM), like magic.
+ Utilizes full the potential of the structures.
- Players need to buy licenses for credits/build points. The policies may vary: some proprietary products could only need one-time payment, some could require players to buy a new license for every new turret, some licenses could allow transfer from one turret to another, from destroyed turrets to new turrets, some could prohibit that.
- Each maps should define actions that are thought crime and if players do that, structures that have proprietary software installed shut down.

Free software ---

+ No payments required.
+ The pre-defined software should work OK but have some non-fatal flaws.
+ Players should be able to download the program from any turret, if it's free software, and upload their own JavaScript programs.
- Even the most expertly written custom programs shouldn't be able to utilize the full potential of the strutures (eg. only up to 0.75 turn rate).

Stage 2 Reached

Downloading Software - ETA: 30s
Installing Software - ETA: 10 s


it'd be nice addition

Personally, managing turret software license agreements sounds more like a pain in the ass (no offense) than it would actually be fun.  needless to say, it would totally load the game for the aliens' side, and require the addition of an extra member to scrim teams just to deal with some damn insolent pieces of military-grade technology that refuse to work properly out of the box, lol.

If this was simplified to simply purchasing better software levels for a single defense computer that boosts all defense devices however, it could be a bit more promising.  Of course, the aliens' team would have to have an equivalent weakness, and such is not inherently present in the traditional game structure.

Basically the idea is good but what's that talk about licenses? we'll download it from tpb

Not only would allowing (forcing) turret programming be a pain in the arse, it loads the game for the alien's side, and completely changes the nature of the game from Tremulous/Murnatan into "copy the best turret code from the internet and paste it into the turret console". 

This is not going to be an open-source game when it releases, and therefore most of the players are not going to have any coding skills, much less any interest in taking time out of shooting the hell out of the alien's team to f*ck with turrets.  I know there were already too few good base builders in 1.1 as it was, without adding some asenine C+++ or Java scripting to each and every turret and tesla (20+ normally in Starburst).

Take this idea and stick it either into a mod, or into devmap mode... it does not belong in the core game.