Quotes of the week: Theo de Raadt
Quotes of the week: Theo de Raadt
Posted Feb 11, 2024 9:25 UTC (Sun) by mgb (guest, #3226)In reply to: Quotes of the week: Theo de Raadt by khim
Parent article: Quotes of the week
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
P.S. Unlike US breakers, UK fuses do not sometimes fail to blow when overloaded - too much current through a thin wire vaporizes it reliably, quickly, and safely. However replacing a blown fuse takes a couple of minutes longer than flipping a tripped breaker.
Posted Feb 11, 2024 10:09 UTC (Sun)
by khim (subscriber, #9252)
[Link] (1 responses)
If no one ever mixes them up, no one puts some piece of wire “to make the damn thing work, because I need it now” and so on. Well, maybe UK citizens are living in a different universe and they never make any mistakes, but then why do they need these fuses in the first place? I don't even use ani-virus (except what Microsoft shoves down my throat) and I don't see the point of it (that abomination Microsoft calls protector only ever acts on me when I compile programs with non-standard settings and I've never seen it acting upon real threat). But it's like “convenience fuse” on the extender in non-UK setup: it may help you if you are not careful enough, but if you built your whole security system on the assumption that anti-virus never fails and always protects you… then you are doing it wrong.
Posted Feb 11, 2024 12:24 UTC (Sun)
by mgb (guest, #3226)
[Link]
Oddly enough, since this is LWN, I don't have Microsoft pushing anything on me - none of our laptops, servers, or virtual servers run Windows.
Posted Feb 11, 2024 14:57 UTC (Sun)
by pizza (subscriber, #46)
[Link] (1 responses)
...Have look at some of Loius Rossman's rants on fuses that aren't what they claim to be. If you think UK plugs aren't full of similarly dodgy fuses then I have a bridge in London to sell you...
FWIW I grew up in a place that used UK-style fused plugs (on radial, not ring circuits), and have personally witnessed plenty of fuses/plugs/sockets that *melted* but didn't blow, only "failing" when something melted to the point where the contacts no longer contacted, or causing a short that tripped the upstream breaker/fuse.
So personally, I place far more trust in dual-action circuit breakers [1] than fuses.
[1] A thermal component that trips if the sustained current is too high for too long, and a magnetic component that trips if the current suddenly spikes. Then there are the Ground Fault and Arc Fault breakers that add additional protections.
Posted Feb 11, 2024 16:47 UTC (Sun)
by Wol (subscriber, #4433)
[Link]
You'd be surprised then ...
Okay, from what you've said about dodgy Chinese suppliers, you could be right, but your typical UK plug nowadays is a sealed unit where if the fuse blows you just replace the cable. Your typical UK consumer today wouldn't have a clue how to cut off and replace a moulded plug. Even where you can replace the fuse, they wouldn't have a clue how to do that!
(And we did have a bridge in London we sold to you :-)
Cheers,
Posted Feb 11, 2024 17:11 UTC (Sun)
by farnz (subscriber, #17727)
[Link]
UK fuses also fail to blow when overload - too much current through a thin wire heats it, yes, but it does not always vaporise; and even when it does vaporise, it can do so by coating "non-conductive" parts of the fuse in metal, resulting in the fuse carrying more current than it was designed to do (since the new coating is shorter and thus thicker than the wire was).
Both of these are rare failure modes, but they exist; there's a reason why BS 7671 now recommends breakers over fuses, because breakers (when well-constructed) are more reliable than fuses.
> Unlike US breakers, UK fuses do not sometimes fail to blow when overloaded - too much current through a thin wire vaporizes it reliably, quickly, and safely.
Quotes of the week: Theo de Raadt
Quotes of the week: Theo de Raadt
Quotes of the week: Theo de Raadt
Quotes of the week: Theo de Raadt
Wol
Quotes of the week: Theo de Raadt