I wonder if someone can build a howto for Thinkpads on Linux.
Nonsense. Thinkpads can update the firmware from a bootable CD whose ISO you can download from the Lenovo website.
I did this just last week with my Carbon X1. I can guarantee you that no Windows was ever involved.
Did I make a mistake ?
Here's a revision history[1] for a laptop model I work with. The previous model's history is much the same[2], except the updates stopped after Sept. 2014.
[1] http://h20565.www2.hp.com/hpsc/swd/public/detail?sp4ts.oid=5...
[2] http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/swd/public/detail?sp4ts.oid=4...
For a computer outside warranty, that can be pretty expensive.
Maybe if your maid is also a distro developer...
- http://www.fwupd.org/users.html
But it is not given that a user has physical access to the machine, is it?
Well... I guess that's why it says "By default", and you can configure it? Seems targeted at desktop installations?
Yes, I think the logic here is flawed. The only way to know someone can do something in the physical security theatre is by their doing it. Needing to cajole any normal user into running a script is a tad more optimal than convincing them to physically move devices from the server room to the new machine that they won in your raffle.
Yes, it uses polkit: https://github.com/hughsie/fwupd/tree/master/policy
For a more serious response, if you look at the architecture diagram, the fwupd daemon is independent of any packaging or download mechanism so there should be nothing preventing you from calling it from dpkg postinstall scripts.
Take it a step further, you could just PXE-boot into a scripted image that loads up and checks for FW updates, then reboots into the default OS when complete.
