Comments on: Silent updates: Good, Bad, or Safe? http://almaer.com/blog/silent-updates-good-bad-or-safe blogging about life, the universe, and everything tech Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:08:49 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Wendy Ragiste http://almaer.com/blog/silent-updates-good-bad-or-safe/comment-page-1#comment-39353 Wendy Ragiste Wed, 06 Aug 2008 21:44:37 +0000 http://almaer.com/blog/silent-updates-good-bad-or-safe#comment-39353 Solution - everything works perfectly first time, is never hacked and never becomes obsolete. Simple, eh? Solution – everything works perfectly first time, is never hacked and never becomes obsolete. Simple, eh?

]]> By: Justin Meyer http://almaer.com/blog/silent-updates-good-bad-or-safe/comment-page-1#comment-39335 Justin Meyer Sat, 02 Aug 2008 15:53:56 +0000 http://almaer.com/blog/silent-updates-good-bad-or-safe#comment-39335 I think the Browser has taught us that automatic upgrades are necessary. Imagine if IE 6 was automatically upgraded by IE 7. There will always be people who want to turn off updates, visit websites with JavaScript turned off, etc. However, these people are typically more technical to begin with. I think it is the developers responsibility to act as a strong parent for the 95% of people who click "OK" without ever reading what the message says. I think the Browser has taught us that automatic upgrades are necessary. Imagine if IE 6 was automatically upgraded by IE 7.

There will always be people who want to turn off updates, visit websites with JavaScript turned off, etc. However, these people are typically more technical to begin with.

I think it is the developers responsibility to act as a strong parent for the 95% of people who click “OK” without ever reading what the message says.

]]> By: dion http://almaer.com/blog/silent-updates-good-bad-or-safe/comment-page-1#comment-39334 dion Sat, 02 Aug 2008 02:55:48 +0000 http://almaer.com/blog/silent-updates-good-bad-or-safe#comment-39334 Thanks for the comments guys. I think that the browser has taught us that automatic upgrades are OK. However, when there are big changes, you still see responsible websites letting you take a sneak peak (e.g. the new Yahoo! Mail, the new Facebook, etc). Luckily, to try different versions, it can be as simple as trying a new URL and setting cookies. So, it seems to come down to minor vs. major changes. For minor ones, I want the developers to make the change. Imagine if you were on a website that had a XSS error and the developer couldn't change it, and instead the user was asked "are you sure you want to go to a new webpage?" Thanks for the comments guys. I think that the browser has taught us that automatic upgrades are OK. However, when there are big changes, you still see responsible websites letting you take a sneak peak (e.g. the new Yahoo! Mail, the new Facebook, etc).

Luckily, to try different versions, it can be as simple as trying a new URL and setting cookies.

So, it seems to come down to minor vs. major changes. For minor ones, I want the developers to make the change.

Imagine if you were on a website that had a XSS error and the developer couldn’t change it, and instead the user was asked “are you sure you want to go to a new webpage?”

]]> By: Patrick Lightbody http://almaer.com/blog/silent-updates-good-bad-or-safe/comment-page-1#comment-39332 Patrick Lightbody Fri, 01 Aug 2008 18:44:34 +0000 http://almaer.com/blog/silent-updates-good-bad-or-safe#comment-39332 Silent upgrades are my ideal choice for sure. I really don't care unless it's a BIG change. I'm definitely not worried about security. I'm not even worried about instability, since the developer will likely know to roll out a subsequent update to fix any bugs from the last update, so it should just work itself out without me even noticing it. At Jive I insisted they spend time on an automatic upgrade process. It's not automatic, but it's still way better than most enterprise software. They wrote a blog entry about it a while back <a href="http://www.jivesoftware.com/community/blogs/clearspace/2007/07/19/the-benefits-of-an-upgrade-framework" rel="nofollow">here</a> and InfoQ wrote one on the topic <a href="http://www.infoq.com/news/upgrade-frameworks" rel="nofollow">here</a>. It's kind of surprising how few companies "get it" when it comes to making users lives easier. Even Plaxo has a shitty upgrade experience on the Mac. Silent upgrades are my ideal choice for sure. I really don’t care unless it’s a BIG change. I’m definitely not worried about security. I’m not even worried about instability, since the developer will likely know to roll out a subsequent update to fix any bugs from the last update, so it should just work itself out without me even noticing it.

At Jive I insisted they spend time on an automatic upgrade process. It’s not automatic, but it’s still way better than most enterprise software. They wrote a blog entry about it a while back here and InfoQ wrote one on the topic here. It’s kind of surprising how few companies “get it” when it comes to making users lives easier. Even Plaxo has a shitty upgrade experience on the Mac.

]]> By: Vezquex http://almaer.com/blog/silent-updates-good-bad-or-safe/comment-page-1#comment-39331 Vezquex Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:40:19 +0000 http://almaer.com/blog/silent-updates-good-bad-or-safe#comment-39331 Not quite, Ross. Browser caches don't always update. Not quite, Ross. Browser caches don’t always update.

]]> By: Ross Boucher http://almaer.com/blog/silent-updates-good-bad-or-safe/comment-page-1#comment-39330 Ross Boucher Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:32:55 +0000 http://almaer.com/blog/silent-updates-good-bad-or-safe#comment-39330 One advantage of the trend towards web applications is not having to worry about this kind of thing. The app provider updates for you, whenever they're ready; everybody immediately gets the new version. The only potential downside here is something changing that you don't like -- there's no going back. One advantage of the trend towards web applications is not having to worry about this kind of thing. The app provider updates for you, whenever they’re ready; everybody immediately gets the new version. The only potential downside here is something changing that you don’t like — there’s no going back.

]]> By: Alex Miller http://almaer.com/blog/silent-updates-good-bad-or-safe/comment-page-1#comment-39329 Alex Miller Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:32:42 +0000 http://almaer.com/blog/silent-updates-good-bad-or-safe#comment-39329 AppFresh? http://metaquark.de/appfresh/ AppFresh? http://metaquark.de/appfresh/

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