[kwlug-disc] What's the best desktop distribution?

[unsolicited]

Adam Glauser wrote, On 02/04/2010 9:49 AM:
> William Park wrote:
>> But, when you say "killer apps for Linux over Windows", are you saying
>> that Windows doesn't have standard mechanism for updates?  I'm a Linux
>> guy, but we gotta get over this Windows-bashing...

<cough> <flamewar><careful now / cease and desist></flamewar>
> 
> I'm not Windows-bashing.  Yes, there is a standard mechanism for 
> updating the OS and certain MS products.  However, I vastly prefer the 
> .deb repository method.  As Lori pointed out, as long as I stick to 
> software from the repository, _all_ of the software on the system can be 
> updated with two easy steps.
> 
> With Windows, each time I install an application, I'm forced to think 
> about how I will get security updates.  Do I have to check the 
> developer's website periodically?  Maybe they have an RSS feed?  It is 
> certainly getting better with many of the larger software producers 
> adding in auto-update functionality, but I've found that the quality and 
> ease of use of these features are pretty hit and miss.

To be fair ...

The real Windows update process is Windows Update. MOM and SMS are 
additional for cost products. And things like MS Office, and I expect 
other MS products, participate in that. IIRC, other vendors can 
participate in that if they so choose.

The aggravation of that process isn't that much different than the 
oft-claimed aggravation for Linux of getting oneself into each and 
every repository. And there are enough news bits of the difficulty of 
keeping up. This list has expressed a fair bit of pain over the 
frequent (and broken) Ubuntu updates.

The difference is there is a *standard* for Linux, well understood and 
maintained. So once (now) that problem is solved, it's solved. Windows 
is still thrashing about for a well accepted, understood, and 
pervasive, solution. I expect few want to pay MS for the privilege of 
riding upon their update process.

And the difference is the *user* has this *standard* - the complexity 
of it is pushed up a level. In MS, the complexity is in the user's face.

Regardless of the OS, you don't necessarily want auto-updates 
happening. Any net service (witness the ssh change), mySql, Apache, 
and probably many others, you want to do carefully. Let alone OS 
upgrades. Mind you - *again*, this will all likely be more easily 
scriptable in Linux than anything in Windows. (Powershell? Will they 
ever get over the not invented here issue, and stop making us learn a 
new <thunk> every time the feel like farting! The stink just gets 
overwhelming. People leave the room, and don't come back.)

And, finally, of course ... why is it even now, most updates require a 
stupid reboot of the computer, for no real good reason. <sigh>