this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2023
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The issue is not just that a bad update went out. Freak accidents can happen. Software is complicated and you can never be 100% sure. The problem is the specifics. A fat finger should never be able to push a bad update to a system in customers' hands, forget a system easily capable of killing people in a multitude of ways. I'm not quite as critical as the above commentor but this is a serious issue that should raise major questions about their culture and procedures.
This isn't just some website where a fat finger at worst means the site is down for a while (assuming you do the bare minimum and back up your db). This is a vehicle. That's what they meant about the CAN bus - not that that's really a concern when the infotainment system just gets bricked, but that they have such lax procedures around software that touches a safety-critical system.
Having systems in place to ensure only tested, known good builds are pushed is pretty damn basic safety practice. Swiss cheese model. If they can't even handle the basics, what other bad practices do they have?
Again, not that I think this is necessarily as bad as the other person - perhaps this is the only mistake they've made in their safety procedures and otherwise they're industry leaders - we don't know that yet. But this is extremely concerning and until proven otherwise should be investigated and treated as a very serious safety violation. Safety first.
Thank you for this response. I can agree with this perspective.
My comments were, “hey, let’s be a little more level headed about this” and less “this company should die and heads should roll”.