Comment by kube-system

> Trust me, there are software engineers and hardware engineers who know your pains and aren't afraid of how difficult you think this stuff is.

If you think I’m describing a software engineering problem, I don’t think you understand what I’m saying.

Sure, you can do anything with infinite time and money, but those can be quite prohibitive where the limitations are tens of millions of dollars and/or a years of regulatory hurdles.

I’ll give you an easy example:

I have maintained multimillion dollar surgical equipment that ran outdated versions of Windows. Even if you were an expert in all the required disciplines, You can’t change the software on the thing without recertifying the system, which is more expensive than buying a new one. (Not to mention that the organizations that use these devices aren’t credentialed to even begin that process) The only viable solution is to maintain it to the original specifications and implement appropriate security precautions until the useful end of life. There is literally no other workable scenario that isn’t laughably ridiculous.