Updates: grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

Every once in a while, I run MS Windows.  Usually just to do updates.
Some kind of compulsion like obsessive hand washing.

I rebooted my Fedora 15 desktop machine because of Fedora updates, so I 
took the opportunity to update the Vista that came with the machine.

Infelicities that I remember:

- Microsoft updates are slow and require a reboot

- upon reboot, more updates appear.  Why?  No explanation given (I
  could invent some reasons).  They too require a reboot.

- one of the updates prompts for permission to install (ie9, I think).
  But it puts the prompt UNDER the Windows Update window so I let the
  machine sit there invisibly waiting for me for quite some time until
  I moved the Windows Update window and could see it.  DUMB.

- several other non-Microsoft things clamour to be updated and
  sometimes require reboots: java, Adobe Flash, Adobe Reader, ATI
  Video driver

- I have to "agree" to multi-page terms at several junctures

- I have no clue about which upgrades can be done in parallel and
  which might step on each others toes.  So I do this serially.

- HP Updates tool says I should update the Intel Matrix driver (for
  the hard drives).  It stalls during download (0 bytes downloaded).
  Perhaps it is a firewall setting, but I get no help as to what the
  problem is.  (Trying again, after all the other updates, seems to
  work.  No idea why.)

- At virtually every step, Vista says that a program is doing
  something serious, and do I want to let it?

- Firefox 3.x doesn't automatically upgrade, so I asked it to check
  for updates.  It then asked to update to 3.6.y, I said OK, and it
  did.  After that, it asked if I wanted to update to the latest
  version.  I then had to download and run an executable that took
  several steps.

- Microsoft Security Essentials is now nagging me about an update.  I
  guess that means that it isn't updated by Windows Update.  No, it
  turns out that it was already updated but the notification thingee
  hadn't noticed.

Updating Fedora is much easier.

BTW, I recently updated my iPad to iOS 5.  Even that was more awkward
than Fedora updates.  Typing in my WPA key again, through the
touchscreen, was particularly annoying.  And yes, I still speak
English.  Of course I had to fire up a Windows box to run iTunes to do
the update.

In contrast, the HP TouchPad update I did yesterday was much easier.  I
didn't need to tether it, only one reboot, taken care of
automatically.

Ubuntu updates are as easy as Fedora updates except in the odd case
where a config file is being changed.  Two bad things happen:

- the update hangs on a prompt (that's against Red Hat rules)
  so unattended updates don't work

- the system wants the operator to specify what it should do with the
  conflicting config files.  I am usually unprepared to answer
  questions about obscure programs' obscure config files.

I admit that doing better safely is hard.

CentOS updates are as easy as Fedora updates.  But for much of this
year, CentOS didn't issue any updates -- somewhat worrying.  They are
back at it now.
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