this post was submitted on 06 May 2026
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Forced updates should be outlawed.
That becomes a problem when we're talking about the 1% of updates that are sent to prevent your smart TV from becoming part of a distributed botnet, though. Some people might even complain about the 9% of updates intended to keep up with churn in the APIs of 3rd-party services that are part of the functionality the device was purchased for.
What we need is something that restricts forced updates to those categories. That requires regulation, which likely means starting in the EU, since that's the only major jurisdiction that's (sometimes) pro-consumer. We also need regulations on labeling that force the manufacturer to indicate on the outside of the packaging in big letters exactly what advertised functionality of a device will break if it's kept off the internet.
No, just don't force the updates.
If the updates are actually GOOD, we'll be happy installing them, personally. We do updates on our Linux box just fine.
Provided that said "security" updates aren't actually "security against you, the owner, from running your own software on the device" (see: game consoles).
-- Frost
If I were talking just about devices I myself use, I would say yes, get rid of all forced updates, but unfortunately, smart TVs are not bought only by the technically adept. (You should see my mother trying to use hers, and given her age and general incomprehension of technology I doubt her understanding is going to improve.) Their devices still have to be patched to keep the botnets from going after the rest of us. I don't particularly like forced updates, but for security updates on consumer devices they sometimes are the lesser of two evils.
Why would producers control the device I paid for?
What we need is TVs that don't require an internet connection. I wanna stream stuff, but I'm very capable of booking up a streaming box or even an old laptop for that purpose.
My TLC TV has wifi, but it's never been enabled, and everything works via a fancy little plug called HDMI. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
As should forced Internet connectivity