The force auto-update is there to prevent desyncs. which is a MUCH bigger can of worms. I have not had any issues with the game randomly stopping, through I am playing the game on windows so it may be a system-based bug.
Most other indie games would just downright stop you from joining any servers unless you redownloaded the game again. would you prefer re-downloading the 2.2gig game every update?
about the whole login thing, I do not understand why you are this pissed at a text box that you can close with a single button.