Andy Smith <a...@strugglers.net> wrote: > Hi, > > On Sat, Jul 20, 2024 at 11:54:06AM +0800, hlyg wrote: > > crowdstrike makes news headlines, many Windows become blue screens > > > > it is evident that many people around still use Windows > > > > i wonder if linux is more reliable than Windows > > For this specific issue, if Linux were used at the same scale and > for the same purposes as these affected Windows machines, then a > similar issue would affect Linux sooner or later. > > The reason why this is the case is that the current motivation for > the use of Crowdstrike's software on those Windows machines would > be exactly the same if they were Linux machines, and so these > companies would do the same thing with the same end result. > > In fact, Crowdstrike already made a similar mistake earlier this > year with one of their Linux solutions which resulted in end user > machines having a kernel panic. Debian stable end user machines. So > there is no practical difference between Crowdstrike+Windows and > Crowdstrike+Linux. > > https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41005936 > > So then you might assume that the problem here is Crowdstrike's > incompetence and a better vendor would solve all problems. You would > be wrong, because the world is full to the brim with inept software > vendors and there is no real consequence for software failures.
It seems clear to me that what's needed is a change in the law. At the moment here in the UK we have national news services explaining that airline passengers won't be able to get compensation because the 'event' was outside the airline's control. That's clearly nonsense since some airlines weren't affected so perhaps sense will eventually prevail and the companies that have had problems will be held liable for damages to their customers. But it would be better if they could then sue Crowdstrike for installing the faulty update. (Perhaps they can? I don't know, IANAL.) That might provide some incentive to improve the systems and processes so problems like this don't occur again.
