__/ [ Tim Smith ] on Saturday 28 October 2006 04:20 \__
> In article <1162001913.479192.275220@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
> "Larry Qualig" <lqualig@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> > The part where you insert "hardware" which doesn't exist in the original
>> > article? Nor in the sentence fragment you quote above.
>>
>> The article states they are replacing faulty motherboards. Last time I
>> checked "motherboards" were hardware. Nowhere does the article even
>> remotely imply Roy's statement of "Sounds like Windows' handling of
>> motherboard interrupts."
>
> The article doesn't even mention Windows, and since it does mention that
> the votes were counted, it sounds like it was just a screen freeze. In
> this kind of system, the interface is almost always a single application
> running full screen, so a single application locking up will show up as
> a "screen freeze".
>
> Looking at the population of the four counties in which they replaced
> hardware, it works out to one machine fixed per 400 people. It seems
> likely that this means they had to fix ALL the machines in those
> counties.
>
> So, it looks like this story has nothing to do with Linux advocacy--it
> is just pure FUD about Windows (not the story at Yahoo--the way it was
> presented here). Even if Diebold switched to SELinux, no sane person
> would want to vote on their machines.
>
> (This kind of FUD is particularly dangerous. If the FUDsters succeed in
> making people think Diebold's application bugs and poor physical
> security are Window's fault, then if the heat gets too high on Diebold,
> they can just switch to Linux, and people will think they must be then
> be OK, and it will take us another several years to get rid of those
> machines).
You only validate my point. If an /application/ lockup is resolved by
changing underlying hardware, then it's most likely the 'bridge' that's to
blame -- the O/S. It is nothing unprecedented. Windows has a tendency to
lock up upon certain system (hardware) events. I used Windows for many years
and seen that happening... it's nowhere near an RT O/S.
Best wishes,
Roy
|
|
