[Shared404]

If it's running Windows then sometimes BIOS updates can be delivered through Windows update.

Yes it's just as bad an idea as it seems.

Source: Dealt with it occasionally at a computer repair shop I worked at.

[taubek]

This is such a bad idea. For large systems/companies there are management platforms.

[dogma1138]

Large companies manage windows update.

[buescher]

I am pretty sure I have seen it on Ubuntu also.

[Shared404]

I've not seen it yet on Ubuntu, at least not through the default update path - occasionally I'll see a pop up for "firmware update available" though.

Windows will automatically deploy the BIOS update along with any other automatically deployed updates.

That being said, I rarely use vanilla Ubuntu and rarely use Dell, so maybe I've just not seen it and it does happen.