[wp-hackers] Why no automatic database upgrade?

[David Anderson]

Hi,

As some of you know, I develop WordShell, which amongst other things 
allows the user to upgrade 1 or 1 million WordPress instances from the 
command-line in a single command.

It upgrades WordPress by calling WordPress's own internal upgrade 
routines (though it can do it manually if you prefer).

Therefore, like WordPress, on the next visit to the administration 
console (http://example.com/wp-admin) the site administrator might get 
requested by WordPress to do a database update by clicking on the button.

I was asking myself, why don't we make WordShell do this automatically 
and save the user the hassle?

This then leads to the obvious question - why doesn't WordPress itself 
do this automatically and not bother the user? I can save the user a 
click or command - but is there some design reason why this is already 
an extra step? Would I be in danger of optimising out a step that should 
not be optimised?

Reading the code, I can't see an obvious reason why the answer is "yes"; 
WordPress does not make this step optional; you can't log in to the 
admin console until you first do the DB upgrade. So - am I missing 
something?

Many thanks,
David

-- 
WordShell - WordPress fast from the CLI - www.wordshell.net