[thelist] automatic code updates with PHP

[Mike Migurski]

>- Windows XP asks you if it should download/install these fixes - I
>personally like it. The app I am thinking of would not make sudden
>interface changes or install stuff without asking - I'm not that dumb :)
>- The app will be installed on the client's server. FTP access is not an
>option.
>- Write access to the server probably isn't an option either (trust
>issues).
>- So my conclusion so far is to use eval()
>
>Thanks for the feedback - you've all highlighted some of the probs with
>automatically updating software. I still think the pros outweigh the
>cons, especially if you consider that delivering these updates means a
>serioous business advantage (it is better for me if users have the
>latest version installed).
>Any other thoughts?

The eval() option sounds like a massive kludge to me. Apart from being
slow and unwieldy, it also introduces the possibility of their app
breaking when your database server goes down.

I think a good way is via rsync: if you rsync over an ssh connection then
no cleartext vulnerabilites are introduced, and you can manage updates to
their machines remotely.

You could also use a combination of cvs and ssh: check out a copy of the
code to your client's server over an ssh connection, and whenever they
need to update their local copy, it's as simple as running 'cvs up' inside
the code directory - it becomes a client's responsibility to keep up with
fresh versions. You can even monitor all of your clients' public rsa keys,
so that you can enable and disable access at will by edithing your
authorized keys file.

-mike.

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michal migurski- contact info and pgp key:
                 http://www.saturn5.com/mike/contact.html

                "Freedom! Horrible, horrible freedom!"