Re: [Ayatana] Updating UI issues

[Matthew Paul Thomas <mpt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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Shane Fagan wrote on 26/05/10 14:30:
>...
> I have a bone to pick with the update system in Ubuntu. It hasnt
> changed since I started using Ubuntu (Gutsy).

I have now completed about half of a specification for software updates
in Ubuntu. <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SoftwareUpdateHandling> (The main
things still missing are how to show installation progress, how to
handle error cases, and how automatic installation should interact with
interactive installation and the various session commands.)

> For one I dont think we should get asked our password to check for
> updates. (Thats a big one for me).

When Ubuntu checks for updates automatically, you don't need to enter
your password. When you ask Update Manager to check again, you do need
to enter your password. I've proposed to Michael Vogt that your manual
check could use the same mechanism as the automatic check, so that you
wouldn't need to enter your password.

>                                    I dont even think by default the
> user should have to check at all. I think it should be checked once
> every week instead unless the user doesnt want that.

The default is to check daily, show security updates (together with any
others) immediately, and otherwise show non-security updates weekly.

> The second thing is can we put the updates in the software center
> instead? I know its complex to implement but having a separate program
> with only 3 buttons is a waste.

I have considered this, several times. But Ubuntu Software Center is
(and, even more so, will be) a complex interface for what we're trying
to make a very simple question. (In
<https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SoftwareUpdateHandling#alert> you'll see that
I've simplified it from "a program with only 3 buttons" down to just an
alert box by default.) And, "oh, there are updates available, this would
be a good time to also install that program I've been meaning to try" is
not a realistic use case to design for.

What we can do, though, is the reverse: When you install a program in
Ubuntu Software Center, check if there are updates, and offer to install
those at the same time. That would reduce, to a small extent, the number
of times people get interrupted by the updates alert.

> Can do any of this for Maverick?
>...

Michael and I would be delighted if anyone could help out in
implementing the specification. There are many small bits that can be
implemented independently. <https://code.launchpad.net/update-manager>

- -- 
Matthew Paul Thomas
http://mpt.net.nz/
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