Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Story Behind a Windows Security Patch Recall

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the trial-and-human-error dept.

bheer writes "Raymond Chen's blog has always been popular with Win32 developers and those interested in the odd bits of history that contribute to Windows' quirks. In a recent post, he talks about how an error he committed led to the recall of a Windows security patch."

2 of 135 comments (clear)

  1. Awwww, touching.... by Richard+McBeef · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    I didn't realize microsoft developers were real people and might have real feelings. Maybe we should cut them some slack.

  2. Re:An error he committed? by drinkypoo · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    If you read the article, you'd see he addresses that sort of comment.

    Now look kid, I read the fucking article. Don't make stupid assumptions. It only makes YOU look like an ass. It doesn't do shit to me except piss me off and suggest to me that I'm dealing with an idiot.

    1) There's a lot of pressure to get a security patch out as soon as possible;

    Microsoft still typically makes us wait for them, days to weeks after they are reputed to be completed. One of two things is true in these situations. Either the patch is still under development and they are somehow lying to us about this, which I don't see any benefit in, or they are doing something to the patch, which might or might not be QA.

    But Microsoft claims that the delay is for QA. So surely you can understand how I might be dismayed at the apparent lack thereof.

    2) It's impossible to test every single case (the breaking case was a shell extension for a printer that wasn't even being manufactured anymore)

    You don't need to test every case, only every case it's possible to achieve, and if Microsoft isn't running complex automated test suites, then what ARE they doing with all that time? Working harder instead of smarter, and having a bunch of interns run the test cases manually or something?

    And since reports of that patch causing hanging were widespread, it seems foolish to assume that all of them were due to the printer driver, which was never explicitly stated.

    More information is necessary to clear this up. A simple blog post with one little note for slashdot readers does not a complete clarification make. It's interesting but mostly, to me, it raises more questions.

    You are welcome not to ask these questions, but personally I believe almost nothing I read or am told and only half of what I see.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"