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There are many reasons why someone would not want this behavior, including: - Browser updates often carry more than just security fixes, which may or may not b

There are many reasons why someone would not want this behavior, including: - Browser updates often carry more than just security fixes, which may or may not be wanted by the user - Background updates make it less likely for the user to know why their software is being updated - The user may have a legitimate reason for sticking with an older version of a piece of software - Most browsers already show the user when a new update is available. For users interested in all of the latest security updates, they can read about what these are and simply download the update right away

nuerow 5y ago
> There are many reasons why someone would not want this behavior It's a good thing that this feature can be configured. https://www.ghacks.net/2021/04/28/mozilla-is-working-on-firefox-background-updates-on-windows/ https://www.ghacks.net/2021/04/28/mozilla-is-working-on-fire...
- Minor49er 5y ago
  Indeed it is, though this wasn't what Ajedi32 was arguing
Ajedi32 5y ago
Unfortunately, the realities of modern software development make it very difficult to separate feature patches from security patches. Maintaining an ever-increasing number of older versions of the same software indefinitely just isn't feasible. "Bother the user with a dialog that lets them shoot themselves in the foot every time there's an update." isn't a good solution to that problem. Firefox's Extended Support Release[1] is a better one, but even with that users will need to accept a feature update eventually. There may be legitimate situations where it does make sense to turn off automatic updates (that's why the option is there), but they're very niche and require a lot of expertise to pull off without compromising security. Well designed software should intentionally make it hard to disable critical security features without knowing what you're doing. I also don't think informing users about the contents of an update usually meets the bar where it is "absolutely necessary" to interrupt them just for that. Unless your update is about to break something important (which you should certainly avoid if at all possible) patch notes shouldn't be required reading. [1]: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/enterprise/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/enterprise/

nuerow 5y ago

> There are many reasons why someone would not want this behavior It's a good thing that this feature can be configured. https://www.ghacks.net/2021/04/28/mozilla-is-working-on-firefox-background-updates-on-windows/ https://www.ghacks.net/2021/04/28/mozilla-is-working-on-fire...

Minor49er 5y ago
Indeed it is, though this wasn't what Ajedi32 was arguing

Ajedi32 5y ago

Unfortunately, the realities of modern software development make it very difficult to separate feature patches from security patches. Maintaining an ever-increasing number of older versions of the same software indefinitely just isn't feasible. "Bother the user with a dialog that lets them shoot themselves in the foot every time there's an update." isn't a good solution to that problem. Firefox's Extended Support Release[1] is a better one, but even with that users will need to accept a feature update eventually. There may be legitimate situations where it does make sense to turn off automatic updates (that's why the option is there), but they're very niche and require a lot of expertise to pull off without compromising security. Well designed software should intentionally make it hard to disable critical security features without knowing what you're doing. I also don't think informing users about the contents of an update usually meets the bar where it is "absolutely necessary" to interrupt them just for that. Unless your update is about to break something important (which you should certainly avoid if at all possible) patch notes shouldn't be required reading. [1]: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/enterprise/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/enterprise/