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A. Software Update process provides your local machine with a list of available updates. 2. Software Update process includes metadata that indicates what local

A. Software Update process provides your local machine with a list of available updates. 2. Software Update process includes metadata that indicates what local machine conditions should be satisfied to warrant installing a given update. D. Local machine checks the metadata against its own settings, capabilities, applications, and drivers to determine a matching condition to select and apply relevant updates.

shawnz 6y ago
Is that practical with the sheer number of different drivers/updates that can be delivered through WU? And wouldn't they get the information anyway when they see your machine in the access log for the update files?
- bobwaycott 6y ago
  The local machine only needs a manifest of available updates and its local state to determine what updates it requires. The potential size of the manifest doesn’t strike me as a good reason to exfiltrate more data from the local machine. There are myriad options for limiting the size of the manifest into something more manageable—say, splitting it into many smaller manifests—and let the local machine identify the updates it needs. An access log isn’t going to provide the Update Provider the same level of data that transmitting local settings, capabilities, applications, and drivers would—or the Update Provider will have to write additional software to turn access logs into best-guess approximations of, at most, apps & drivers being downloaded by a particular IP. However, the local machine still retains more information about itself than is otherwise given up by blanket data collection of its settings, capabilities, applications, and drivers. The collection of massive amounts of data is not necessary to provide a collection of available updates and leave it up to a local machine to determine which of those updates it needs to apply.
- labawi 6y ago
  Linux and BSD distributions seem to manage.
- vetinari 6y ago
  dpkg/apt and rpm/yum were doing exactly that for ages. From multiple sources. They managed to handle exactly that.

shawnz 6y ago

Is that practical with the sheer number of different drivers/updates that can be delivered through WU? And wouldn't they get the information anyway when they see your machine in the access log for the update files?

bobwaycott 6y ago
The local machine only needs a manifest of available updates and its local state to determine what updates it requires. The potential size of the manifest doesn’t strike me as a good reason to exfiltrate more data from the local machine. There are myriad options for limiting the size of the manifest into something more manageable—say, splitting it into many smaller manifests—and let the local machine identify the updates it needs. An access log isn’t going to provide the Update Provider the same level of data that transmitting local settings, capabilities, applications, and drivers would—or the Update Provider will have to write additional software to turn access logs into best-guess approximations of, at most, apps & drivers being downloaded by a particular IP. However, the local machine still retains more information about itself than is otherwise given up by blanket data collection of its settings, capabilities, applications, and drivers. The collection of massive amounts of data is not necessary to provide a collection of available updates and leave it up to a local machine to determine which of those updates it needs to apply.
labawi 6y ago
Linux and BSD distributions seem to manage.
vetinari 6y ago
dpkg/apt and rpm/yum were doing exactly that for ages. From multiple sources. They managed to handle exactly that.