[Spud] OS updates on embedded devices

[Phillip Hallam-Baker <[e-mail]>]

We are quite a way afield here. But there are very good reasons for
NOT wanting automatic updates.

Security for me means that the device does what I want it to and
nothing else. Having the system change behavior because some code
monkey decided to add some Kewl features is a security vulnerability
as far as I am concerned.

I have Sonos devices in some of the rooms. They are practically
unusable because the idiots who make the app insist on making changes
that require the already sluggish iPhone app to be updated regularly.

When I want to turn the radio on I want it to take less than a second.
Sonos is already slow. But when it asks for an update of the app,
someone has to bring the phone to me and have me enter the password to
update it. Then the device will often fail to find the app store. If
it does find it then it is another five minutes to load the new app.


If a network device did the same thing it would undoubtedly break my network.