3 ms·

This is not true. Southwest is not running Windows 3.1. https://hachyderm.io/@danderson/112823168105006094 https://hachyderm.io/@danderson/112823168105006094

This is not true. Southwest is not running Windows 3.1. https://hachyderm.io/@danderson/112823168105006094 https://hachyderm.io/@danderson/112823168105006094 "So, it would seem that one shitpost led some journalists to breathlessly google for corroborating sources, and "Southwest builds its crew scheduling apps in-house, and they look like shit, like they're from the Windows 95 era" morphed into "Southwest runs everything on Windows 3.1". Maybe I've missed some actual evidence for these claims, I dunno. But every mention of Southwest and Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 eventually lead back to this lineage of 3 articles misquoting each other." I tried to leave a comment on the original article, but tomshardware.com prevents my comment from being "spamlike", even though it has no spam. If anyone has a functional forum account there, please post a correction. It's frankly embarrassing that Toms Hardware posted this with no evidence whatsoever, and is banning comments trying to correct it. Jowi Morales, if you are a real person and not an AI, you should be ashamed.

woodruffw 2y ago
I also tried to source this the first time I heard it, and similarly couldn't confirm it. It might be trivially true in the sense that every huge corporation has some ancient box (or VM) lurking in the shadows somewhere, but I can't find any evidence online that Windows 3.1 is anywhere on Southwest's critical path for booking/itinerary management/plane repositioning/etc. On a slightly truer note: the NYC subway runs, in part, on eComStation (a/k/a OS/2 Warp). The eComStation parts of the system chugged along on Friday, while the newer parts (OMNY for contactless payment, train arrival panels, etc.) all had problems.
peppermint_gum 2y ago
This is not the first time this has happened. Back in 2019, many outlets[1] reported that Putin was still using Windows XP. Why? Because in a publicity photo, the taskbar on his computer had a blueish color. And some people even came up with theories like "it's because it's the last version that hasn't been backdoored". The problem is that this isn't true. If you look at the photo in full resolution[2], it's clear that it was Windows 7 (or maybe even 8 with a Start menu mod). [1] - For example: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7800831/Vladimir-Putin-uses-obsolete-Windows-XP.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7800831/Vladimir-Pu... [2] - http://static.kremlin.ru/media/events/photos/big2x/W2kaDAtDzXJAFYH8TLTem6KDYNkcEEHk.jpg http://static.kremlin.ru/media/events/photos/big2x/W2kaDAtDz...
lauraorchid 2y ago
And that's another reason you never trust media nowadays
ikari_pl 2y ago
Gen Z does journalism now, while: https://phys.org/news/2023-06-misinformation-susceptibility-online-gen-millennials.html https://phys.org/news/2023-06-misinformation-susceptibility-...

woodruffw 2y ago

I also tried to source this the first time I heard it, and similarly couldn't confirm it. It might be trivially true in the sense that every huge corporation has some ancient box (or VM) lurking in the shadows somewhere, but I can't find any evidence online that Windows 3.1 is anywhere on Southwest's critical path for booking/itinerary management/plane repositioning/etc. On a slightly truer note: the NYC subway runs, in part, on eComStation (a/k/a OS/2 Warp). The eComStation parts of the system chugged along on Friday, while the newer parts (OMNY for contactless payment, train arrival panels, etc.) all had problems.

peppermint_gum 2y ago

This is not the first time this has happened. Back in 2019, many outlets[1] reported that Putin was still using Windows XP. Why? Because in a publicity photo, the taskbar on his computer had a blueish color. And some people even came up with theories like "it's because it's the last version that hasn't been backdoored". The problem is that this isn't true. If you look at the photo in full resolution[2], it's clear that it was Windows 7 (or maybe even 8 with a Start menu mod). [1] - For example: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7800831/Vladimir-Putin-uses-obsolete-Windows-XP.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7800831/Vladimir-Pu... [2] - http://static.kremlin.ru/media/events/photos/big2x/W2kaDAtDzXJAFYH8TLTem6KDYNkcEEHk.jpg http://static.kremlin.ru/media/events/photos/big2x/W2kaDAtDz...

lauraorchid 2y ago

And that's another reason you never trust media nowadays

ikari_pl 2y ago

Gen Z does journalism now, while: https://phys.org/news/2023-06-misinformation-susceptibility-online-gen-millennials.html https://phys.org/news/2023-06-misinformation-susceptibility-...