This question arises from the following topic, where it was pointed out that Debian no longer has unattended-upgrades as a default install with the Gnome DE, even though the Debian Wiki still says that it is installed by default.
viewtopic.php?t=159137
The aim of this question is to be able to edit the Debian Wiki to say "unattended upgrades is no longer installed by default because...". I don't think it's right that the Debian Wiki contains wrong information, but the update process doesn't seem to be particularly active or authoritative - see lindi's comment in the topic above.
The reason unattended-upgrades was there I believe is that it was required by Gnome to be aware of available updates, so that Gnome could notify users. The process went like this:
unattended upgrades adds a Systemd trigger to run apt update at certain semi-random period (to avoid every Gnome user on the planet hitting the servers at the same time).
\/
packagekit includes a Debian Specific configuration file 20packagekit that causes apt to inform packagekit of updates.
\/
gnome-package-updater uses packagekit to inform users of available updates and allow them to update the system.
The problem, if unattended-upgrades is not installed, is how is packagekit aware of updates if apt update is not triggered?
I have seen posts which seem to suggest that Gnome is now using appstream metadata to be aware of available updates.
https://www.reddit.com/r/openSUSE/comme ... te_viewer/
appstream metadata does seem to contain version number:
https://www.freedesktop.org/software/ap ... esktopApps
There is plenty of circumstantial evidence to suggest this is true.
Gnome updates is aware of flatpak updates available.
Suggestions that updates are missed for packages that haven't added metadata.
Complaints that Gnome is checking for updates at every boot, suggesting that Gnome itself is instigating the check itself.
Complaints that Gnome updates can beak systems because it is not aware of conflicts in updated packages which distro package managers are.
If Gnome has switched to using cross-distribution appsteam metadata as a way of being aware of updates without unattended-upgrades (or equivalent in other distros), there must surely be a mention of this in Gnome release information, but I haven't found it.
Or, if I'm barking up completely the wrong tree, how is Gnome aware of available updates now?
Is anybody aware of a definitive link to explain why unattended-upgrades is no longer required by Gnome and why?
viewtopic.php?t=159137
The aim of this question is to be able to edit the Debian Wiki to say "unattended upgrades is no longer installed by default because...". I don't think it's right that the Debian Wiki contains wrong information, but the update process doesn't seem to be particularly active or authoritative - see lindi's comment in the topic above.
The reason unattended-upgrades was there I believe is that it was required by Gnome to be aware of available updates, so that Gnome could notify users. The process went like this:
unattended upgrades adds a Systemd trigger to run apt update at certain semi-random period (to avoid every Gnome user on the planet hitting the servers at the same time).
\/
packagekit includes a Debian Specific configuration file 20packagekit that causes apt to inform packagekit of updates.
\/
gnome-package-updater uses packagekit to inform users of available updates and allow them to update the system.
The problem, if unattended-upgrades is not installed, is how is packagekit aware of updates if apt update is not triggered?
I have seen posts which seem to suggest that Gnome is now using appstream metadata to be aware of available updates.
https://www.reddit.com/r/openSUSE/comme ... te_viewer/
appstream metadata does seem to contain version number:
https://www.freedesktop.org/software/ap ... esktopApps
There is plenty of circumstantial evidence to suggest this is true.
Gnome updates is aware of flatpak updates available.
Suggestions that updates are missed for packages that haven't added metadata.
Complaints that Gnome is checking for updates at every boot, suggesting that Gnome itself is instigating the check itself.
Complaints that Gnome updates can beak systems because it is not aware of conflicts in updated packages which distro package managers are.
If Gnome has switched to using cross-distribution appsteam metadata as a way of being aware of updates without unattended-upgrades (or equivalent in other distros), there must surely be a mention of this in Gnome release information, but I haven't found it.
Or, if I'm barking up completely the wrong tree, how is Gnome aware of available updates now?
Is anybody aware of a definitive link to explain why unattended-upgrades is no longer required by Gnome and why?
Statistics: Posted by FreewheelinFrank — 2024-05-18 07:33 — Replies 0 — Views 49