Windows for critical infrastructure (was Re: UNIX V7)

[Josh Dersch]

Can we please -not- have this conversation again?  We just had one  
last month and it has just as little to do with classic computing as  
it did then.


On Jun 10, 2009, at 2:08 PM, Eric Smith <eric at brouhaha.com> wrote:

> Dave McGuire wrote:
>> Do these people really believe PCs running Windows process their  
>> bank transactions, maintain hospital databases, or run railroads?
> Unfortunately there actually ARE hospitals using Windows servers for  
> their critical infrastructure.  I've seen them, and I've seen what  
> happens when they blue-screen.
>
> I've heard stories about banks that have migrated their transaction  
> processing from IBM mainframes to Windows, but they may just be  
> stories.
>
> I have no idea what railroads are using.
>
> The US Navy at one point was switching from Unix to Windows.  They  
> had major problems with this on the USS Yorktown, and had to tow it  
> back to port.  I don't know whether they've completed the switch.
>
>       "We are putting equipment in the engine room that we cannot  
> maintain
>        and, when it fails, results in a critical failure"
>           -- Anthony DiGiorgio, civilian engineer with the Atlantic  
> Fleet
>              Technical Support Center in Norfolk
>
>       "Although Unix is more reliable, NT may become more reliable  
> with time."
>           -- Ron Redman, deputy director of the Fleet Introduction  
> Division
>              of the Aegis Program Executive Office
>
> Redman said that NT had been chosen for political rather than  
> technical reasons.  Where's the line between stupidity and treason?
>
> It's been more recently reported that the British Royal Navy is  
> using Windows to run their nuclear submarines.
>
> One of the best reasons not to use Windows for critical  
> infrastructure has nothing to do with flaws in Windows.  Over and  
> over again I've seen people have failures of Windows-based systems  
> that were intended to serve a single purpose, such as control the  
> HVAC systems for a large building, because some damn fool thought it  
> would be a good idea to install a bunch of extra software on them,  
> including games, and various random software downloaded from the  
> Internet.
>
> Eric
>
>