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British Royal Navy Submarines Now Run Windows
meist3r writes "On his Government blog, Microsoft's Ian McKenzie announced today that the Royal Navy was ahead of schedule for switching their nuclear submarines to a customized Microsoft Windows solution dubbed 'Submarine Command System Next Generation (SMCS NG)' which apparently consists of Windows 2000 network servers and XP workstations. In the article, it is claimed that this decision will save UK taxpayers £22m over the next ten years. The installation of the new system apparently took just 18 days on the HMS Vigilant. According to the BAE Systems press release from 2005, the overall cost of the rollout was £24.5m for all eleven nuclear submarines of the Vanguard, Trafalgar and Swiftsure classes. Talk about staying with the sinking ship."
This roll-out must be 5 years overdue, windows 2000 server?
20 posts before the first one that actually provides useful information.
Is that a typical ratio on slashdot? I haven't been keeping track.
Didn't the Brits hear about what happened to the USS Yorktown [wikipedia.org] when they tried Windows as a naval solution. God save the Queen, please.
Perhaps the Brits are smart enough to put user input validation into their applications ?
With the Royal Navy's recruitment advert for IT crew where the guy goes on about how complex the equipment is and then finishes the advert with the punch line "but sometimes, I just switch it off and back on again".
Perhaps this is why it's saved tax payers £22 million too, we no longer need high paid IT staff with a clue what they're doing, we can just get 16 year old school drop outs who IT qualifications are that they built their own PC and set up an internet on uncle Joes computer by sticking the AOL disc in. I mean, hey the nuclear missile launch console has failed to fire off our nuclear deterrent after Russia just obliterated Europe in a nuclear attack, just reinstall Windows and make sure you stick the latest nuclear weapons launch drivers on, if not just pop round to the local PC World store and get the Tech Guys (UK equivalent of Geek Squad) to fix it for £125.
I can sleep comfortably knowing that our nuclear deterrent is in safe hands.
Not since 1776. Look up the definition of a gallon or a ton.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
1. GP does not sound psychotic at all
2. I see nothing irrational or excessive at all. The US has deliberately sent the Lucetania into a battle zone in order to enter WWI, disregarded intelligence that could have prevented Pearl Harbor, entered a virtual battle in Tonkin to enter Vietnam, and made up stories on WMD to enter Iraq. In that light an NSA backdoor does not seem more preposterous to me. And there have been news items on this, even from Bruce Schneier.
I think you owe GP an apology for your incorrect accusation.
Wenn ist das Nunstueck git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput.
Not having input validation on a userland application should NEVER be the reason a whole OS goes belly-up.
Your suggestion could be interpreted that Microsoft was not to blame on the Yorktown debacle, which is wrong.
Wenn ist das Nunstueck git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput.
No, but your average submarine does have an array of sigint antennas, elint, and all the other ints. That said, in the course of sucking down internet from that pencil beam footprint along the cost where president whoever lives, do you really think (all) the processing systems are immune to viruses and malware as well? The bored scope goat running his hand crafted packet sniffer used to strip out files (a.k.a porn) from the data stream, gets a little click happy with the mouse on a dull night watch and runs jessica.exe
Not all viruses get in via the suited moron with the laptop.
Not having input validation on a userland application should NEVER be the reason a whole OS goes belly-up.
Indeed.
Your suggestion could be interpreted that Microsoft was not to blame on the Yorktown debacle, which is wrong.
They weren't. The application crashed, not the OS. It is trivial to demonstrate that Windows NT can handle a userspace application dividing-by-zero, you just use Calculator.
What's this "Lucetania" thing? Do you mean the RMS Lusitania?
Conspiracy theories are comforting because they let people think that world events are under someone's control, even if it is with malicious intent. Unfortunately, the unpleasant truth is that there generally isn't a conspiracy, and world events unfold largely out of control, spurred on by ignorance, incompetence, and general bloody-mindedness.
If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.