error404

The 737 is a very old platform from the days of low bypass turbofans

This is the fundamental flaw here, IMO. The type rating system has discouraged Boeing from making significant improvements to safety (well and anything else that affects flight characteristics) in the 737's systems, which lead to this.

The right solution here would have been full fly-by-wire with flight control law to keep the plane in-envelope, not a bandaid fix that stabs at the trim wheel with no knowledge of what else is going on with the flight controls.

But they didn't just do it the lazy way, they even screwed that up, with no redundancy, no sanity checks, and an override process that is much too drastic. Then they didn't document any of this or create procedures to recover from system failures. It started with flawed regulatory procedures that encourage stagnation, continued with a litany poor engineering decisions, was 'covered up' with a lack of documentation, and ended with 300+ people dead.

They are correct, though. Not drinking any alcohol is a simple solution to not getting a DUI.

Evaluating your tolerance/intoxication correctly, and choosing to drink but limit yourself is a less simple solution, and some people seem incapable of it.

Not the person you asked, but as a casual gamer, games are secondary to my OS choice. I used to dual boot for gaming but that ship sailed years ago. I have neither the time nor the inclination. If not for Valve's push for Linux support I'd probably barely game at all. But Indies and even AAAs are releasing in Linux, so I throw them some cash and play their games a couple hours a month. Win win right?

As for why Linux, why not? I like tweaking. I like open source. I want a 'nix terminal and system software repository. I don't care for Microsoft, I don't care for OS as a service, and I hate Apple.

Will countries that have a relatively decent handle on the situation earlier be able to return to relative normalcy sooner, or will we all be waiting for it to work its way through the world before anyone gets a reprieve?

It wasn't actually a checklist item on the runaway stab checklist. It was mentioned as a note in the bulletin and subsequent AD they issued after Lion Air, but the checklist was not changed. The runaway stab checklist also notes it applies if the stabilizer 'operates continuously', not intermittently as MCAS does.

http://www.b737.org.uk/images/runaway-stab-proc.jpg