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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.

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: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 28 2015, @01:15AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 28 2015, @01:15AM (#255375)

    OS X updates are free now. It's part of what forced Microsoft to give Windows 10 away.

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  • (Score: 5, Funny) by WillR on Wednesday October 28 2015, @05:47PM

    by WillR (2012) on Wednesday October 28 2015, @05:47PM (#255714)
    In the new version, the Mac user groans (because it's certain to break something), the Windows user is enthusiastic (because it might fix something the last update broke), and the Linux user fires off a 3000 word blog post about how awful systemd is and threatens to switch to OpenBSD.