In reply to Miroslav Glavić.

We aren't normal WordPress users. We're the extreme minority.

While you may follow the developers of the plugins you use on your sites and update within minutes of a release announcement, that isn't the norm. The vast majority of users simply don't do this. They neglect their sites. They don't update plugins. They don't update themes. They rarely update WordPress itself, outside of the background automatic updates in core which does not include major releases.

The average user sets up a WordPress site, installs the plugins he or she wants to use and then let's it sit. For months. Sometimes longer. Because WordPress is so widely used for non-blog sites they may even rarely login to the WordPress Dashboard. The end result is the site simply does not get updated.

We even regularly see more savvy users who neglect updates. It's not just limited to the non-technical.

I would rather have a users site encounter an issue with a background automatic update that can be corrected without much work than having user sites compromised and a vulnerability exploited because they didn't keep things updated. I think just about any user would agree that a hiccup with a background automatic update would be far better than having the site completely exploited.

If you use good plugins the update issue shouldn't be a big deal. Can hiccups occur? Certainly. Even with good plugins. But would it be a regular occurrence? Certainly not. I never encounter issues when using automatic update in WordPress to update plugins on my sites. Background automatic update uses the same process.

Will there be plugin developers that can't release updates reliably? Absolutely. But with background automatic updates if a plugin developer regularly releases updates that cause issues with user sites the end result is going to be users will quit using their plugins. The ratings and reviews for the plugin will plummet. WordPress.org could even implement a policy surrounding background automatic updates to pull problematic plugins that regularly cause issues when updated.

The end result would be a net positive for the WordPress community: bad plugins would be weeded out.

We as developers need to remember that we aren't the average WordPress user and we are the extreme minority. We tend to forget this. We need to be implementing features and functionality that make WordPress better for end users. This includes making maintaining a site practically hands off for those users who simply want a web site that works without having to think about it.