CrowdStrike recently caused a widespread Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) issue on Windows PCs, disrupting various sectors. However, this was not an isolated incident, CrowdStrike affected Linux PCs also.

A widespread Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) issue on Windows PCs disrupted operations across various sectors, notably impacting airlines, banks, and healthcare providers. The issue was caused by a problematic channel file delivered via an update from the popular cybersecurity service provider, CrowdStrike. CrowdStrike confirmed that this crash did not impact Mac or Linux PCs.

It turns out that similar problems have been occurring for months without much awareness, despite the fact that many may view this as an isolated incident. Users of Debian and Rocky Linux also experienced significant disruptions as a result of CrowdStrike updates, raising serious concerns about the company’s software update and testing procedures. These occurrences highlight potential risks for customers who rely on their products daily.

  • @[email protected]
    192•4 months ago

    The analysis revealed that the Debian Linux configuration was not included in their test matrix.

    You might as well say you don’t support Linux.

    “Crowdstrike’s model seems to be ‘we push software to your machines any time we want, whether or not it’s urgent, without testing it’,” lamented the team member.

    I wonder how this shit works on NixOS.

    • @[email protected]
      71•4 months ago

      If I’m remembering right, RHEL is Crowdstrike’s primary Linux target. And NixOS wouldn’t even be a factor since it’s basically just not enterprise grade.

      That said, they need a serious revision of their QA processes.

      • circuscritic
        35•4 months ago

        RHEL, Ubuntu, & Debian cover the vast majority of enterprise installs I imagine, and provide a solid testing base for developers in the Linux business software space.

        Maybe you add Gentoo, some post-CentOS clones/forks, or other more niche industry/workload specific distros, but how you do skip Debian?

        • lemmyreaderEnglish
          10•4 months ago

          RHEL, Ubuntu, & Debian cover the vast majority of enterprise installs I imagine, and provide a solid testing base for developers in the Linux business software space.

          Enterprises I imagine are using RHEL, Ubuntu, SUSE’s SLES and Oracle Linux and probably not Debian. But that’s a guess. Where can statistics and numbers be found ?

          • Pup BiruEnglish
            9•4 months ago

            consultant for large enterprises in australia, and i literally can’t say i’ve ever seen anyone running anything other than RHEL and amazon linux (so… RHEL) in production… unless we’re talking not for profits, and then that’s been a bit of a mixed bag

        • themeatbridge
          3•4 months ago

          I’m not an expert in any sense.

          But it was always my impression that Ubuntu and Debian were what you use on personal machines, while RHEL is the baseline standard for professional servers.

          Is that not accurate? CrowdStrike’s target customer seems to be the sort of company that would insist on using RHEL for the enterprise features.

          • @[email protected]
            18•4 months ago

            That is not accurate.

            • RedHat is the standard for high-budget American corps.
            • Rocky and similar for low-budget American orgs
            • Ubuntu Server has a large following with developers who think they don’t need sysadmins.
            • Debian Stable is more popular with European orgs that aren’t incentivized by US government contracts to go with Redhat. It is much more stable than Ubuntu, has been more reliable in its support promises than Redhat, and doesn’t suffer from the NIH syndrome that infects both.
            • Ubuntu is popular with home users
            • Debian Testing is good for workstations and personal machines that need to be a bit more current
            • Debian Unstable for people who like Debian but want to live on the bleeding edge
            • @[email protected]
              3•4 months ago

              The enterprise systems I see are only certified on RHEL and SUSE, debian is not even a contender. Obviously Americans typically choose Rhel and europe goes for SUSE.

              Debian doesn sell enterprise support.

          • Martin
            14•4 months ago

            I’ve been using Linux professionally for 15 years. It’s been Debian or Ubuntu almost everywhere I have been. Although that might be regional.

            • @irreticent
              1•4 months ago

              Which region, if you don’t mind me asking?

                • @irreticent
                  2•4 months ago

                  What’s it like living there? I apologize for the off-topic question but I’m fascinated by the Nordic States in comparison to my experience growing up and adulting in the US. I’m envious of your higher quality of life index being so high in those countries.

                  I don’t know where I’m going with this… just wanted to start a drunken conversation.

                  After doing a quick search I found we’re not too far behind you (two rankings lower) but I still like to hear from actual people how they view their govt., and how they’re helping (if at all).

          • valaramech
            9•4 months ago

            Canonical and Debian both target the professional server space. I’ve spent pretty much my entire career working on Debian-based distros.

            Hell, the one company I worked for that I expected to use RHEL used Ubuntu for everything, so 🤷‍♂️.

          • @[email protected]
            4•4 months ago

            This is accurate.

            There is another reply that says “this is not accurate” that includes true information to back you up.

            For infrastructure, RHEL is the gold standard for large companies with a budget. The RHEL customer-base probably overlaps almost completely with CrowdStrike.

            RHEL imitators are popular with people that value cost savings more than the corporate backing ( beyond individual cases, this DOES NOT describe the enterprise space ).

            Ubuntu is very popular with developers in companies of all sizes. Outside of maybe being the base for containers, this is not how “infrastructure” choices are made though.

            Debian is popular with Linux enthusiasts and, where they have influence, businesses may use that. In enterprise environments, it is less likely this group is the one making the decisions. Again though, individual cases exist.