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Software Upgrade Crashes UK Air Traffic Control System

Posted by michael on from the quality-is-priority-1 dept.

pitpe writes "Earlier today the computer system controlling most of the UK's airspace failed, after tests in preparation for an upgrade failed. The original failure occurred at the West Drayton centre, which is an old (70's) system, as opposed to the new system at Swanage, which has had its own problems. A system wide reboot to fix the system resulted in the entire system being taken down temporarily."

5 of 233 comments (clear)

  1. Software doesn't rust... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "which is an old (70's) system". As long as it's not 30-year-old hardware then the software should still be fine. Why does everyone think that simply because software was written in the past it is bad?

    1. Re:Software doesn't rust... by GoofyBoy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      >Why does everyone think that simply because software was written in the past it is bad?

      What is implied is that its being pushed to its limits. e.g. it was designed for 100 flights a day, when today there are 1200 flights a day.

      Those small things which you could get away with before start to become factors in usability and stability.

      --
      The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
  2. So what? by stratjakt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There are redundant systems in place. Analog radar, humans with brains.

    At least there should be. Computers crash, break, have bugs, etc. They're a tool - a more efficient and convenient tool to be sure.

    But when they break, there are contingencies so that planes can still take off and land, and wont just fall out of the sky.

    This is also why Y2K was such a bunch of stupidity. We really aren't as reliant on computers as people think. We know they crash and are prepared to handle it when they do.

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  3. Re:More problems... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful
    A dutch friend of mine once remarked that she didn't understand the mentality of the British. "You" she said, "have an amazing tendency to run things into the ground and then get around to fixing them rather than spending money on continually maintaining them so they never fall apart."
    That's a pretty fair point. The trouble is, since 1977, politics has been obsessed with who can provide the biggest tax cuts, which has meant all the state funded / supported industries have gone to hell in a handcart.
    <rant>
    I blame Margaret fucking Thatcher, who let the hospitals fall apart and flogged off the viable bits of the infrastructure to her friends (at well below market value). [We're still feeling the effects of this on the railways, which the private sector has run into the ground] Corrupt old bitch.
  4. Golden rules.. by rf0 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Never just test software upgrades on Live systems

    Rus

    --
    Cheap UK and US VPS