[hinkley]

I have Java code running on commercial aircraft. You can’t actually run Java code on commercial aircraft because the FAA doesn’t (or at least not at the time) know how to certify it.

The entire box it’s on isn’t powered while the plane is in motion (“wheels on ground”). It’s shut off before preflight and doesn’t turn back on until the plane is on the ground. The service my code is part of is responsible for queuing updates and downlinking telemetry. Updates are manual and obviously you can’t run them while in motion if the box they are on doesn’t even have power.

Cars probably don’t have to go this far, but there’s a continuum and they’re clearly in the wrong part.

[neuralRiot]

Even iPhones and windows let you schedule update times. Just the fact that a freaking MOVING MACHINE doesn’t is egregious on itself. Imagine if stellantis would manufacture industrial equipment or nuclear reactors!

[hinkley]

I wonder how many OTA updates for cars could be left as a task for the mechanic, the way airplane updates are.

Airplanes are required by regulation to have a backup of all software to operate the plane, presumably so that a plane can’t get stranded by an emergency landing requiring system resets. What we built replaced a physical folder full of floppies or CDROMs taking up space in the cockpit. Some of my coworkers insisted it was for weight but I’m absolutely sure that pizza box server weighed more than the book.