The extension of daylight-saving time by a month in the United States is causing enormous grief for some IT administrators running Microsoft software, as many of the software programs running on their users' systems need to be individually patched to reflect the change. This year, daylight-saving time starts today - three weeks earlier than usual - and ends a week later than usual on Nov. 4.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2005-07-08
Over two weeks ago we patched most of our servers running Solaris, Windows 2000 and 2003 and RedHat Linux. I somehow think a lot of people put it off to the last second and now they are having problems, so it is easy to blame the vendor.
If you want to find a company that has an attitude toward its customers, try Oracle. They sent out their DST patch information on March 6!
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2005-07-28
"I somehow think a lot of people put it off to the last second and now they are having problems, so it is easy to blame the vendor."
That may be true for some but, I work for a hospital system and we had been getting this together for 2-3 months. Vendors were the biggest problem. Some were trying to push different versions of Java on us, some couldn't give you a consistent message on software readiness if their lives depended on it and some seemed not to have given it any thought whatsoever.
Believe me, the vendors can easily bear a great deal of responsibility.
Member since:2005-07-28
`Over two weeks ago we patched most of our servers running Solaris, Windows 2000 and 2003 and RedHat Linux. I somehow think a lot of people put it off to the last second and now they are having problems, so it is easy to blame the vendor.`
I agree with you but with qualifcations.
Our IT shop is proactive. We started out updates as soon as they were provided. This included our *nix, Linux, OS X and WinTrash servers.
McSoft does deserve a hit on this one though. ExtraChange server requites the client systems to be updated first before the EC server is patched. Typical MS planning - bass ackwards. It should be server out - but oh well - it is what it is.
For a SMB or personal network of computers this may not be an issue. In larger environments, say, like ours in academia, with well over 1,300 users and multiple lab systems this may be more problematic.
One solution is to download the patch to a WUS server and force or `deadline` its application onto the target. Fine in the `ideal` but not always obtainable.
Aside from the joke about herding cats - many in academia have different schedules, structures,politics, etc that slow the flow of the patch or upgrade. It's no different in local business.
Many SMBs, small companies, no-for-profits, as-well-as personal networks don't have any IT staff. These rely on the charity of others, including me as a volunteer, to help them out. I would call this the `real`.
While it is easy to sit in judgement of those who scream for help when their expensive software doesn't perform ... just remember the difference between the `real` v. the `ideal`.
While Mcoft does sell its computer virus to regular users its target audience, population and markets are businesses and large government entities, including education or academic environments.
Edited 2007-03-11 21:34
Member since:2005-07-08
Over two weeks ago we patched most of our servers running Solaris, Windows 2000 and 2003 and RedHat Linux. I somehow think a lot of people put it off to the last second and now they are having problems, so it is easy to blame the vendor.
According to TFA, Microsoft doesn't want to issue DST fixes for Windows 2000 unless you give them $4,000 (per system I presume). I'm slightly interested in whether your shop was able to get fixes at no extra charge or whether they pay the $4,000 per server for extended support for Win2k.
$4,000 per server. That's pretty expensive legislation for many SMBs still chugging along with Win2k.
Member since:2005-07-11
The problem is not patching the OS. Windows Updates took care of that a long time ago, as the DST patches were available in 2006 or early 2007.
The problem is all the other MS software running on top of the OS. Things like Outlook, where calendar entries are not stored in UTC, but in localtime (or something like that). Which means, once DST arrives, all your calendar entries are now an hour off. Which also means, you either suffer for the extra month this year, or you have to patch *all* your individual Windows programs.
Unlike Unix systems, where just about everything works with UTC and does time conversions using /etc/localtime / timezone settings at display time, Windows programs (especially MS apps) store dates as non-UTC dates.
A royal hassle, and then some.
Member since:2005-12-15
That's a rediculous statement. If that were true they'd have not issued any patch at all, or at the very last minute.
It's a patch, no different to any other patch in process. I'd imagine the problem has more to do with administrators leaving it to the last minute, don't want to invest the time into applying it correctly or find it difficult because it doesn't fit into their company's own internal patching and security processes.
Microsoft didn't cause this problem, but hey when in doubt, blame Microsoft...
Member since:2006-11-22
Member since:
2007-03-04
MS cares for their customers like a lion cares for a gazelle. MS is a predator and you are the prey.