Southwest Airlines, the fourth largest airline in the US, is seemingly unaffected by the problematic CrowdStrike update that caused millions of computers to BSoD (Blue Screen of Death) because it used Windows 3.1. The CrowdStrike issue disrupted operations globally after a faulty update caused newer computers to freeze and stop working, with many prominent institutions, including airports and almost all US airlines, including United, Delta, and American Airlines, needing to stop flights.

Windows 3.1, launched in 1992, is likely not getting any updates. So, when CrowdStrike pushed the faulty update to all its customers, Southwest wasn’t affected (because it didn’t receive an update to begin with).

The airlines affected by the CrowdStrike update had to ground their fleets because many of their background systems refused to operate. These systems could include pilot and fleet scheduling, maintenance records, ticketing, etc. Thankfully, the lousy update did not affect aircraft systems, ensuring that everything airborne remained safe and were always in control of their pilots.

  • qisope@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Or, for your consideration, could it perhaps be because they don’t use crowdstrike?

    • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      3 months ago

      Yeah, what? 3.1 not getting updates has nothing to do with this. Software developed for 3.1 can still be updated. This article is just silly.

        • irinotecan@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Likely the same reason why banks and other financial institutions still use COBOL and Fortran code written in the 1970s or earlier on archaic mainframes: Top management decided at some point it was too expensive to rewrite everything from scratch in some modern language for modern hardware, so they just limp along with what they have.

          A 16-bit app written for Windows 3.x would almost certainly have to be rewritten for modern, 64-bit Windows.

    • xantoxis@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      My Linux servers weren’t affected either. I think it’s because of Windows 3.1

      • Monument@lemmy.sdf.org
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        3 months ago

        My wife shared this with me yesterday, but I didn’t see it:

        A joke tweet with an attached image of a smart refrigerator. The refrigerator displays a blue screen of death. The tweet reads “I can’t even open my fridge.” Another tweet is replying to it, taking it seriously and indicating they do not embrace smart technology.

        Somebunny is gonna learn those things aren’t windows-based today!

        • Peffse@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Just yesterday I had that exact “Tech enthusiast vs tech worker” meme play out. I wanted a timer to control the electrical outlet for an aquarium bubbler. Saleswoman really wanted to sell me this “smart” controller with an app that can program the outlet.

          Me:“What happens when the app stops working?”

          (saleswoman is frantically flipping the box over for answers)

          Her:“…maybe…it keeps the existing timer?”

          • Semi-Hemi-Lemmygod@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            I’ve got about six smart plugs that all stopped working because of lack of support. I am no longer interested in smart plugs.

          • Monument@lemmy.sdf.org
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            3 months ago

            For only way more time and money, you can buy a zigbee smart plug and a vendor agnostic zigbee hub flashed with FOSS, or you can buy a esp-based board, wire it up with a relay, and flash it with something like esphome.

            Sure, it’s way more money and hours of work (cumulatively), but it won’t lose support!

            • 5redie8@sh.itjust.works
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              3 months ago

              I just bought a bunch of TP Link equipment I knew was compatible and loaded up Home Assistant onto a Raspberry Pi. Best of both worlds

              • SyntaxError@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                I bought some TP link Kasa plugs and a couple of years later when I wanted some more the Kasa brand was discontinued and replaced by Tapo in Sweden. Tapo and Kasa only work with their own separate app so I would have had to have two separate apps even though both were TP link. Never bought any more smart plugs.

                • 5redie8@sh.itjust.works
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                  3 months ago

                  Aw man, that’s a shame! Kasa is still around in the US, I only got mine a couple months ago. They do seem to offer both, so I wonder if Kasa is on the way out here too

        • Semi-Hemi-Lemmygod@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          My old thermostat was basically two teaspoons of mercury that would expand and contract with the temperature to short out two leads. They didn’t let me keep it when I got a new one, but I got the dumbest one they had.

          • btaf45@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            I got a new HVAC and smart thermostat about a week ago. After researching, I decided to hook thermostat to wifi and download app. Mostly all the app does is duplicate the same functionality that the thermostat controls have. I find it handy to have a remote control for the thermostat.

            OTOH I decided not to hook up a new washing machine to wifi and use app. It duplicated the functionality of the appliance controls also, but there was no point in having remove controls for a washing machine.

            The critical thing is that an appliance needs to be fully functional without needing to use wifi and certainly not a phone app.

    • noisefree@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      I feel like every article out there is missing this and keeps blaming Windows Update vs an update pushed to a specific piece of software by a third-party developer. I get end-users not understanding how things work but tech writers should be more knowledgeable about the subject they write about for a living.