And many of our critical systems (mostly MRIs) are on RHEL 5. (Not connected to any network, don't worry!)
This could partially explain why healthcare IT is some of the worst in the world. Can't imagine the number of vulnerabilities you have from using such outdated tech.
From EHR systems, to basic appointment scheduling, to billing and insurance, everything is so poorly built and tedious for the users. Not to mention, healthcare is always falling victim to ransomware, shutting down entire hospital systems.
I know you'll say you need to move slow, lives are at risk, etc. But what healthcare IT is doing now certainly doesn't work. So maybe push on the gas a little bit.
At no point did I say not to test before rollouts.
> When even the slightest change in UI becomes a deadly operator error
Stop being dramatic, because it's part of the problem. Yes, UI's are critical, and these UI's are absolute garbage. You need to improve rapidly, not agonize over bullshit changes in Microsoft Office.
https://www.thedoctors.com/articles/electronic-health-record...
https://ehrintelligence.com/news/diagnostic-medication-error...
EHR's are killing people because they are so poorly built. To reiterate, what you're doing is not working.
> you make damned good and sure that those errors won't happen
You're not making sure those errors are not happening, is the point.
However, most people don't realize that the majority of the software deployed in the world is meant to run for years without getting feature updates.
Most production code is running on servers, vehicles, industrial systems, infrastructure, military stuff and so on. Planes and power plants can have an expected lifetime of 40 years.
Case in point: the civil infrastructure project https://www.cip-project.org/ plans to maintain a Debian-derived kernel and basic OS and backport security updates for 25 years.
For those wondering what features are missing from RHEL 5, look further than SSL.
People on HN forget that a huge amount of computing has nothing whatsoever to do with the web.
In theory there can be computers with no network, typically an isolated computer attached to heavy test machinery, but it's becoming impossibly rare in all industries.
And they should be easy to recognize, look for the post-it nearby with the shared username/password to unlock it, also notice the doctors leaving with the x-ray printed on paper or a USB key to be able to transfer it elsewhere.
Changing/maintaining SW in medical devices is not easy (FDA, CE...) and as many mentioned, not everything is designed to move like the web...