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The Seduction of the New

posted by martyb on Tuesday October 27 2015, @11:57PM   Printer-friendly
from the if-some-is-good-then-too-much-is-not-enough? dept.

frojack writes:

Bruce Byfield's Blog on Linux Magazine explores the upgrade treadmill.

Byfield relates an old comic by Christiann MacAuley that depicts how Linux, Windows, and Mac users relates to a pop-up announcement saying: "An Update is Available for Your Computer".

The Linux user is enthusiastic, the Windows user groans, and the Mac user is glad it will only cost him $99.

One reason for switching to Linux used to be to get off the forced upgrades path common to proprietary software. Yet Linux users seem to have kept the urge to upgrade, even when the necessity was removed. Even when security fixes are back ported, to Long Term Support releases, we just can't seem to resist an upgrade.

Byfield explores the issue of upgrades, and why we Linux users feel compelled to perform major upgrades. Not only the minor patches to fix bugs that happen ever week. We routinely seem to rush in and put our entire systems at risk by installing complete system upgrades to new kernels, whole new desktops, sometimes new file systems, and even the dread systemd.

It's an interesting read, and set me wondering why so many Linux users chase upgrades for little or no new features.

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by VanderDecken on Wednesday October 28 2015, @01:14AM

    by VanderDecken (5216) on Wednesday October 28 2015, @01:14AM (#255374)

    [It] set me wondering why so many Linux users chase upgrades for little or no new features.

    I write software and architect systems for a living. When we're deploying (and especially maintaining) a business system, pretty much the last thing we're looking for is new features from the OS and its base packages. We want stability of the underlying system. Our only interest in upgrades is

    1. Security patches
    2. Bug fixes; and
    3. Support for new hardware.

    Everything else is a distraction, a risk, and a time sink.

    So yes, we apply upgrades on a regular basis, subject to maintenance windows and change control, but it's generally not because we're looking for New and Shiny.

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Tork on Wednesday October 28 2015, @02:38AM

    by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 28 2015, @02:38AM (#255398)
    In Windows land I think the automatic update is just there to make the reboot take longer when something important is going on. It's never secure and I never see new features so I have trouble picturing what else it could be doing.
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