Your uptime is 0wnz0r3d

Another day, another software update from the mothership. On the one hand, I’m really happy that Apple’s taking security seriously and is cranking out fixes as fast as they can, but on the other hand it’s just really sad that there are still so many wicked little monsters inside the operating system that need fixing. It feels pretty Windows-y to update your computer every few days for a new security threat. (Not that I’m saying it’s near as bad on this side of the fence, but that the increase in volume is disheartening.)

The “reboot required” piece of the software updates is getting to be really annoying, though. Not that my workstation requires 99.99999% uptime or anything, but this is a Unix. It should only have to be rebooted for a kernel update. The mystifying part is that Apple’s engineers obviously don’t ride to work on the short bus, so they are all well aware of the joys of restarting processes. Therefore, Watson, there must be something else that prohibits this, forcing the dreaded “restart required.” Does anybody know what?