Il giorno lun, 15/06/2009 alle 22.55 +0000, bdoe ha scritto:
> 
> The same could be said for Windows. Since Windows XP SP2, automatic
> security updates are turned on by default, and users have to
> specifically opt out of it to turn it off. 

I want to point out the following to the many who think automatic
updates are a good idea. When I started computing I was 8, so perhaps
mine is a particular case. But I was _not_ an enfant prodige. I saw the
switch from "the computer can and should be used by everyone", surely
true with those old commodore home computers, even if you had to type to
use them, and surely true with macs and with OS/2, to "using the
computer is difficult, it's impossible, only gurus can do that, it's
dangerous" etc. This switch happened with windows 95. MS-DOS was used by
non-technicians because they needed it. And after all it was clear to
everybody what happened: you typed commands in, the computer did
something.

Microsoft started advertising windows 95 as easy computing for everyone,
and at the same time they formed an army of ignorant technicians that
are very good at installing windows and all of its
"accessories" (replace this with a bad word of your choice:). This led
to the introduction of the ECDL and other amenities. Aren't these two
things in open contradiction? You have an operating system that is
self-teaching, but you need a course and a certificate that you are able
to use it?

How it is so? They wanted an economic empire, not an easy to use
operating system. Part of this empire is the millions of persons who
followed courses on how to make the thing actually work, and became
microsoft servants and advocates and linux haters. Most of the times,
these persons hate linux because their brain is so flat they really
can't tell an applications menu if it's on the top of the screen instead
of on the bottom.

Sorry for being so direct, that's what I have been observing in Italy at
least, in the last 20 years. The growth of a mass of ignorant microsoft
servants.

Where do I want to go with this? I do not care about the MS habit of
turning things on by default even if they can harm, so that a technician
must then be called to repair the broken behaviour.

This is because your average user, in _their_ opinion, is NOT ABLE TO
and SHOULD NOT install the OS by itself, neither should they start using
it without a guru on their side. And they should be educated that if
they try, then they get punished by all the hidden problems and corner
cases they get into. I've seen this many times. And can you hear the
operator smile and say "you see, you tried to do the work of a
technician, it's not easy, next time call us earlier and you'll save
more money".

Let us not lie about that. Microsoft can reasonably expect experts to
install the operating system for users, and then the user must be aware
of all the problems that can happen, like e.g. connecting a 3g card and
finding a 6k euros bill at the end of the month, or installing an
antivirus, removing all the crapware they have pre-installed on their
system and so on.

They do not care to avoid being in the way of users. The more they are
in the way, the more the user will feel unable to use the computer
alone, and will resort to the ignorant army. Paying them and so on. And
all these users typically feel it's their fault, because they do not
know how to use their computer.

We are different. Ubuntu can be installed in a small number of easy
steps and if it does not go right, we consider it a bug. After
installation, the system must NOT require further knowledge to be used
without causing problems. I would never second automatic updates unless
we ask this to the user for every new connection created. We (ubuntu)
shall not risk being labelled as the cause of a consistent money loss,
or of being discovered if we ahem, sneak in an open wifi just to take a
look to our e-mail. Ask your non-power-user if they did that before. I
was surprised to see that ordinary persons do that more than techies.
This  is probably because techies know what they are doing :)

> Someone transitioning from a
> recent version of Windows should be used to that behavior.
> 

Yes, they are supposed to know. But how they did discover it? If they
are ignorant (the good meaning of the word, this time) about computers,
either they found out because they paid a huge bill, or somebody else
told them. We must be better.

> Perhaps, instead of automatically enabling automatic updates, it can
> be
> one of the questions asked during Ubuntu installation.

On the other hand, this is something I agree with entirely.

Vincenzo