https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=169865

--- Comment #3 from Vaughn Reid III <[email protected]> ---
I filed duplicate bug: 
https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=169867

Unchecking Options --> Online Update --> Automatic Update --> "Enable Automatic
Update" eliminates the prompting for Administrator controls.

But, that is not really the point here.  

There are three issues here:  

The first is that it seems a default install of LibreOffice defaults to having
"Enable Automatic Update" checked.  This causes a usability issue in deployment
scenarios when users don't run their computers as Administrators.

Regular non-technical users, like students or office workers or library patrons
get prompted constantly with a computer Administrator credentials prompt every
time they open LibreOffice or a document for which LibreOffice is the default
application, and most of those users will not have any idea what is causing the
prompt or how to turn it off.  This create huge end-user frustration with the
application.

Second, the Administrator credentials prompt for the Automatic Update feature
is a rather sketchy looking dialog box that only says "Updater.exe."  For the
more savvy users, this will likely immediately cause them to wonder if this is
some sort of malware or virus -- or at least it should.  Only upon clicking
more details does one learn the executable lives in the users LibreOffice
folder inside of their Appdata folder -- which also seems a bit suspicious.  

Third, the Automatic Update feature seems to try to run every time LibreOffice
is opened, even if the application is up-to-date.  This definitely feels buggy. 

For me, what would fix this would be the following:

1.  If the application can move the automatic update process into a separate
Windows Service that installs at program installation -- do that.

2.  If moving Automatic Updates to a separate Windows service isn't practical,
then the next best option would be to not enable automatic updates on a default
Windows Installation.

3.  Once the Automatic Updates feature is enabled, it should have a couple of
sanity checks on it to prevent the Administrator credentials prompt -- First,
sanity check --> don't run if the user opening the program is not a member of
the Administrators group.  Second sanity check --> don't run if the program is
already up-to-date.

Thank you for your consideration.

-- 
You are receiving this mail because:
You are the assignee for the bug.

Reply via email to