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Artemis II Astronauts Have ‘Two Microsoft Outlooks’ and Neither Work (www.404media.co)
submitted 4 months ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 4 points 4 months ago (1 child)

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a19061/britains-doomsday-subs-run-windows-xp/

(Though, of course, that's alledgedly simplifying a lot to make it more click-bait-y: https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/no-trident-doesnt-run-windows-xp/ )

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  • [–] 9 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (4 children)

    Of course a submarine's systems won't be connected to the internet, but using a Windows base with a "Custom Support Agreement" still gives a private US corporation the power to cripple their subs.
    IMO something so critical to defense should be built by British developers, and based on OpenBSD.

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  • [–] 6 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    gives a private US corporation the power to cripple their subs.

    You, umm, probably shouldn't look up who maintains the trident missiles those subs carry...

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  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago

    Further to this, there isn't a 'launch the nuclear weapons' application which controls things. Windows is used for the day to day admin - producing the paperwork required in any organisation - but the actual control systems, for the submarine, the weapons the reactor etc are not running off windows.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago

    using a Windows base with a “Custom Support Agreement” still gives a private US corporation the power to cripple their subs.

    No, it doesn't.

    How is Microsoft going to affect the software installed on a nuclear submarine?

    It only gives Microsoft the power to choose to not add new features, the software wouldn't be on the sub if it required any kind of outside support... the entire point of a nuclear submarine is to perform a second strike after everyone (including Microsoft) is destroyed in a nuclear apocalypse.

    Having software that's dependent on anything that isn't on the boat would completely defeat that purpose.

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