[SOLVED] Does update manager know what it's doing

[davidjr]

Update manager is set to check with me every day. Faithfully, it gives me a list several pages long of these security updates that "need to be installed". I don't have any idea what most are. Is update manager smart enough to show only those updates I really need or is leading me down a path I don't want to follow? I have committed hari kari once before by installing and uninstalling recklessly. Is there some way to know what to install and what not to install?

[tyho]

Usually you should update every package the update manager recommends, because you have already installed all of those packages, the only thing the update manager does is to get the newest version of those packages.

Sometimes update manager does install new packages, but then only because they changed the package names or split a package into two. update manager never installs new software.

If you choose upgrade distro, it is different. Then, update manager will install new software and remove old software, which is not supported anymore. Thus, if you choose upgrade distro, you should check if it wants to remove any package you need. Also, a dist-upgrade is more dangerous because sometimes, it won't work (even though errors occur only rarely, usually it works).

[scutiform]

Update Manager doesn't usually have sutch a huge list of updates every day. Start the update manager (Applications menu > Administration > Update Manager) Click on the Stting Button. If the Revert button is Live (not greyed out) click on it to reset the settings. In any case check what has been set to download and see if they are all needed.