Re: SEUL: Observatons

[Michael Peck <mjpeck@mailhost.rsn.hp.com>]

jfm2@club-internet.fr wrote:

> I was thinking in the phone bills of our user.  Think this: the
> automata connects to your mirror site and sees a newer release of
> XFree and XEmacs.  That means about 45 Megs.  Four hours connecting
> time if it gets 3K/sec (it can be a lot lower).  That means 12$ here
> in France.  And I assume than his ISP does not charge him for time.
> 
> And the day later because the packager fixed a small error the
> automata will notice than for XFree and Xemacs have newer packages
> this time with the same release but in a higher packaging version.
> Add another 12$.
> 
> Our user could prefer to wait a few weeks and buy a CD: it is cheaper.
> Specially because for most things our user does not need to be running
> the very latest and greatest version.  About the only exceptions are
> security holes and when his video card is unsupported by his current
> XFree version.
> 
> The best would be to have a software REPORTING when it sees a newer
> version than the one the user has installed.  And providing him with a
> tool than would scan the report and prompt the user about upgrading.

I'm agreed that the automated upgrade strategy is a neat idea. I'm just
worried that in our zeal to implement a cool-new-thing, we might make it
difficult to do anything else, sensibly. We should assume that automated
upgrading is going to be rare, if anything, and make it a feature of the
installer/retriever, not a primary focus.

Why can't we set a user-configurable flag that determines whether or not
to query the user regarding packages and sizes? You could run an upgrade
query, and when you get package upgrade information, could determine at
that time which you want to upgrade. If you live in the US, on the other
hand, and pay but a flat rate for access, you wouldn't care, and would
tell it to upgrade in any event.

MJP
-- 
Michael J. Peck
Hewlett-Packard, Convex Division
mjpeck@convex.com
Opinions expressed above are not necessarily those of my employer.
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