Future and impact of ongoing projects in Linux world

[Xen]

Tom H schreef op 11-10-2016 22:36:

> What I mean by maintain is make sure that updates are installed, just
> like on Windows and macOS.

Aye. To me it is a detriment. I used to turn Windows Update off 
completely for years while I was running XP and 7.

For me the incessant updates are only a distraction and now with Windows 
10 it is twenty times worse than it will ever be on Ubuntu.

However some updates do break stuff not only on Windows. Mint has a 
policy to warn the user and not install kernel updates by default.

I would never allow unmaintained kernel updates on any system. If 
there's nobody there to fix it, don't update it. Many other things can 
go wrong too, but... booting is most important.



> One of the laptops is my neighbor's. I whatsapp her to see whether
> it's a good time, and if it is, I switch to her wifi network, ssh in,
> and run apt-get.

That's a lot of work ;-). In the sense of having to pay attention, to 
keep at it, to not abate, in that sense.

> I visit my parents once a week and I do the same on their laptops.

I had zero maintenance on XP for years and the only thing that started 
bogging down is that I couldn't install new graphics drivers at a 
certain point. I literally had an installation that was at least 2 years 
old while seeing frequent installs and various updates to various things 
except Windows itself. Today I keep having to reinstall stuff 
constantly.

> I used to do the same as I now do with Ubuntu with my parents' laptops
> when they were running Windows six years ago.

Well it's not necessary. There is almost no point to it. Very few 
machines are directly exposed to the internet and no one is actually at 
risk. The updates don't protect against the most common type of threat 
and most machines get infected by running things themselves.


>> Could you take yourself out of the equation for those 3 laptops for a 
>> year
>> without a problem?
> 
> Absolutely. I'd switch on the update thingy for them to click OK for
> their systems to be updated.

If they never had to install anything new... Microsoft currently enjoys 
releasing updates that break systems and then they release a fix several 
days later. I have also seen enough messages on these lists from people 
whose systems got broken by updates. There is a reason Mint has that 
policy.

http://askubuntu.com/questions/781668/system-wont-boot-anymore-after-software-update

Just one message I quickly found. These are pretty regular. It is 
absolutely not safe to let the system update itself without anyone 
present who could fix it.

I don't trust it on Windows and I don't trust it on Linux.

It has nothing to do with Linux this or Linux that, or Windows this or 
Windows that. I don't trust a company to deploy updates across a wide 
variety of systems although I guess OpenSUSE is renowned for running 
extensive safety tests across many different configurations. They don't 
take it lightly.

I once broke off a Microsoft update. It was taking too long. I could 
reinstall the system afterward.

So seeing the amount of maintenance you do today I suppose you have a 
reason for doing it manually, which gives me reason to believe that 
automatic updates would not suffice for you either. I don't believe this 
quick statement that these systems would be fine for a year. It's a 
risky game you play. Of course if you leave them without updates they 
would probably be fine still 20 years from now. Provided that KDE or 
Unity or whatever would not get corrupted. (Which it can also frequently 
do, especially if you install something).

A few days I hooked up my system to a TV. Within minutes I had no longer 
a functioning KDE system. 'Nuf said?

This is someone else, 4 days ago. Okay, maybe KDE is worse than the 
others.

https://forum.kde.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=136651&p=365369&hilit=kscreen#p365369

Someone hooks their laptop up to a projector and it basically stops 
working.