On Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 2:43 PM, Karl Rupp <r...@iue.tuwien.ac.at> wrote:
> Hi, > > There is a difference between a library and an end-user >> application. >> Having "updaters" for end-user applications seems to be the >> status quo >> on Windows and to a lesser extent on Macs, but is resented on >> Linux. >> Having a library do these checks is not okay anywhere. >> >> >> I remember a session at the Google Summer of Code where some guy >> from one of the open source wikis shared his experiences with having >> embedded a 'counter pixel' in a release. In short, his lesson >> learned was that any kind of "phoning home" is an absolute no-go >> unless made *very* clear to the users (plus opt-out). This was >> pre-Snowden, so many people are now much more sensible with respect >> to these matters... >> >> >> I am all for a configure opt-out, and noting it in every piece of >> documentation. My impression of the level >> of sophistication of most users is that we will see few opt-outs. >> > > I bet that some Germans would still be very upset about an opt-out rather > than an opt-in (yes, this is a cultural issue...). > > Is there much value from a nagupgrade check at configure-time? Those who > download a fresh copy of PETSc don't have any benefit from the check. After > the installation, the check has no effect (Matt, I remember your fieldsplit > slides where you say that students only install at the beginning of your > PhD, then work entirely with options). For Hmm, I wanted to say compile once :) > those who configure frequently, a regular update is part of the work flow > anyway. So, who really benefits from nagupgrade? > I think the intent is to catch people who use regular releases, but to try and persuade them to upgrade when a new release comes out. I have no data for this, but my impression is that most users work this way. Matt > Best regards, > Karli > > -- What most experimenters take for granted before they begin their experiments is infinitely more interesting than any results to which their experiments lead. -- Norbert Wiener
