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Windows 10 Update Broke DHCP, Knocked Users Off the Internet (arstechnica.com)
Microsoft has quietly fixed a software update it released last week, which effectively prevented Windows 10 users from connecting to the Internet or joining a local network. From a report on ArsTechnica: It's unclear exactly which automatic update caused the problem or exactly when it was released -- current (unconfirmed) signs point to KB3201845 released on December 9 -- but whatever it was appeared to break DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), preventing Windows 10 from automatically acquiring an IP address from the network. There's also little detail on how many people were affected or why, but multiple cases have been confirmed across Europe by many ISPs. A Microsoft spokesperson has meanwhile confirmed that "some customers" had been experiencing "difficulties" getting online, but that's about it for public statements at present. However, a moderator on the company's forums has said the fix was included in a patch released on Tuesday called KB3206632.
I have to wonder about this specific bug. They fucked up DHCP? Doing what to it? The DHCP stack isn't something that needs regular tweaking; it's not like there are new features being introduced to DHCP all the time. The protocol is mature and relatively static, and the DHCP client in Windows has been robust for years. Even XP's DHCP client was rock solid, fully IPv6 aware, etc. There's nothing to be making changes to in that codebase. Just as I wouldn't expect CALC.EXE to get updated (and suddenly quit working) unless there's some major new discovery in mathematics that redefines how a calculator should operate, I wouldn't expect the DHCP client to be getting buggered when there haven't been any breakthroughs in IP lease assignment.
So what the hell they were mucking around with - adding more spying? Everybody gets a persistent route to FBI HQ in their config?
There are a lot of states where damaging someone's property is a crime and makes you both criminally and civilly liable. Unfortunately all the normal ambulance chasers who would quite rightly file class action lawsuits are scared of the MS legal team and deep pockets. We badly need a software consumers bill of rights to cover all for profit software. In this day and age computers are a mature field where people spend much of their lives. It is about time that the government enact some legislation recognizing this and protecting the citizens from predatory and/or fraudulent software companies. Among those rights:
- Convert all software to be covered by copyright instead of patent law.
- Limit software copyright to 20 years or 5 years after it is no longer for sale or the day and date when it is no longer supported, whichever is first.
- Any software purchased by a consumer is covered by a standard set of rights that parallel ownership of a physical item where applicable or are spelled out in the bill of rights. EULAs are all illegal except between business entities.
- Right of resale is retained by consumer for the physical copy or license key of the purchased software.
- Consumer purchases allow unlimited installs by consumer on equipment they own or use. (Software must be removed from hardware prior to sale/donation).
- Software must function offline unless that functionality requires an online connection.
- Make it illegal for companies to remove functionality previously contained in software/hardware via update, except as a temporary security measure.
- Developers are legally required to provide security and functionality patches to fix bugs and security holes discovered either internally or by security researchers for 5 years minimum after date of final sale without any strings attached. (Failure to do so implies that they intended to defraud the consumer by selling a broken/unfinished/dangerous product and could require refunding all customers and criminal fraud liability.)
- Software updates should not be mandatory unless there is a clear, urgent reason for them to be. If a mandatory update causes the software to become unusable, the company must pay affected users $150/h spent dealing with the problem, cover cost of repairs, pay $60,000/year of lost documents (i.e. if it was 4 weeks since my last backup and all data since that backup is lost, developer is on the hook for $5000), and/or replace affected hardware, the combination of which is based on what it takes to get the system completely restored in a timely fashion.
- Online software licenses/keys/virtual goods and the like have value to the customers who hold them and can be traded/bought/sold/transferred/inherited etc. If a consumer pays actual money either directly or indirectly for a virtual commodity, it can be handled in this way.
- Source code for any and all software and back end servers for sale in the US must be provided to the library of congress in order to enjoy copyright protection. 5 years after that software is no longer for sale or the day that it is no longer supported, LOC should publish source code and the software becomes open domain.
Note this only affects consumer software. Businesses can still do all the licensing and other more flexible arrangements.
If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
You don't need to touch a specific part of a stack to ruin something. Calc.exe would be equally screwed if you did something that broke the Win32API.
Likewise the change could have been completely unrelated to DHCP. Did anyone confirm if the rest of the network stack was okay or did they just conclude that Microsoft broke a very specific part of DHCP?
I once broke DHCP on my linux machine with a typo in an iptables script. That annoyed my especially since it was one of those bugs that was fine until the next reboot and the machine was headless.
Linux on the metal. Windows in a VM.
Took a little tweaking (you can google it) and it works perfectly for the vast majority of applications. I only found a slight degradation in the latest and greatest AAA vidya games. And even then, it's around a 10% loss in frame rate, or turning the graphics down from Ultra to Very High.
This signature is false.