(Solved) Linux Mint 21.3 Virginia frequent updates - is this normal?

[JohnJ]

Greetings all.
I have been using Linux Mint 21.3 Virginia on my elderly laptop for about 1 year after a clean install. From the start and continuing now It all works magnificently. My question is about updating Linux Mint 21.3 Virginia and the various installed apps/software. That is, I have noticed from the start that Mint frequently (very frequently - every few days) prompts me to do various updates. OK. I get that updates are important and I dutifully do so however it's the frequency that I need to do this that has me sort of concerned. My system is very stable and everything just works and has always worked great ...but still all this frequent updating? I realise that this is a pretty open ended question so feel free with a pretty open ended answer. I am just after your thoughts on this. My other question relates to prompts to Install or upgrade/update versions of updates. I usually just update or install as per the default that comes up. Am I doing the right thing here? Cheers. John

System:
Kernel: 5.15.0-102-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.4.0
Desktop: Cinnamon 6.0.4 tk: GTK 3.24.33 wm: muffin vt: 7 dm: LightDM 1.30.0
Distro: Linux Mint 21.3 Virginia base: Ubuntu 22.04 jammy
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: HP product: HP Pavilion Power Laptop 15-cb0xx
v: Type1ProductConfigId serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10
serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: HP model: 836B v: 46.23 serial: <superuser required> UEFI: Insyde
v: F.14 date: 02/23/2018
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 42.4 Wh (78.2%) condition: 54.2/54.2 Wh (100.0%)
volts: 16.4 min: 15.4 model: HP Primary type: Li-ion serial: N/A
status: N/A
Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Mouse serial: <filter>
charge: 55% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes status: Discharging
CPU:
Info: quad core model: Intel Core i7-7700HQ bits: 64 type: MT MCP
smt: enabled arch: Kaby Lake rev: 9 cache: L1: 256 KiB L2: 1024 KiB
L3: 6 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 1000 min/max: 800/3800 cores: 1: 1000 2: 1000 3: 1000
4: 1000 5: 1000 6: 1000 7: 1000 8: 1000 bogomips: 44798
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 630 vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: i915
v: kernel ports: active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0
chip-ID: 8086:591b class-ID: 0300
Device-2: NVIDIA GP107M [GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile] vendor: Hewlett-Packard
driver: nvidia v: 535.247.01 pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 8 ports:
active: none empty: HDMI-A-2 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1c8d
class-ID: 0300
Device-3: Chicony HP Wide Vision FHD Camera type: USB driver: uvcvideo
bus-ID: 1-4:3 chip-ID: 04f2:b593 class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X:
loaded: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa gpu: i915
display-ID: :0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1368x768 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 362x203mm (14.3x8.0")
s-diag: 415mm (16.3")
Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: LG res: 1368x768 hz: 60 dpi: 101
size: 344x194mm (13.5x7.6") diag: 395mm (15.5") modes: 1920x1080
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 630 (KBL GT2)
v: 4.6 Mesa 23.2.1-1ubuntu3.1~22.04.3 direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: Intel CM238 HD Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a171
class-ID: 0403
Device-2: NVIDIA GP107GL High Definition Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 8
bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0fb9 class-ID: 0403
Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.0-102-generic running: yes
Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes
Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
Device-1: Intel Wireless 7265 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie:
speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 04:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:095a class-ID: 0280
IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter>
Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s
lanes: 1 port: 3000 bus-ID: 05:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
IF: eno1 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
bus-ID: 1-7:4 chip-ID: 8087:0a2a class-ID: e001
Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: down
bt-service: enabled,running rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes
address: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 2.27 TiB used: 29.87 GiB (1.3%)
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 970 EVO Plus 500GB
size: 465.76 GiB speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter>
rev: 2B2QEXM7 temp: 32.9 C scheme: GPT
ID-2: /dev/sda vendor: Seagate model: ST2000LM007-1R8174 size: 1.82 TiB
speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 5400 serial: <filter> rev: RDM4 scheme: GPT
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 191.28 GiB used: 29.86 GiB (15.6%) fs: ext4
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
ID-2: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 6.1 MiB (1.2%) fs: vfat
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
Swap:
ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 2 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
file: /swapfile
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 36.0 C pch: 34.5 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
Packages: 2363 apt: 2347 flatpak: 16
No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/expressvpn.list
1: deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/expressvpn.asc] mirror+file:/usr/lib/expressvpn/repo_mirror.list any-version main
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
1: deb https://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/linuxmint-packages virginia main upstream import backport
2: deb http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/ubuntu/archive jammy main restricted universe multiverse
3: deb http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/ubuntu/archive jammy-updates main restricted universe multiverse
4: deb http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/ubuntu/archive jammy-backports main restricted universe multiverse
5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-security main restricted universe multiverse
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/spotify.list
1: deb http://repository.spotify.com stable non-free
Info:
Processes: 265 Uptime: 3h 42m wakeups: 3 Memory: 15.5 GiB
used: 1.45 GiB (9.4%) Init: systemd v: 249 runlevel: 5 Compilers:
gcc: 11.4.0 alt: 11/12 Shell: Bash v: 5.1.16 running-in: gnome-terminal
inxi: 3.3.13

 

[osprey]

Greetings all.
I have been using Linux Mint 21.3 Virginia on my elderly laptop for about 1 year after a clean install. From the start and continuing now It all works magnificently. My question is about updating Linux Mint 21.3 Virginia and the various installed apps/software. That is, I have noticed from the start that Mint frequently (very frequently - every few days) prompts me to do various updates. OK. I get that updates are important and I dutifully do so however it's the frequency that I need to do this that has me sort of concerned. My system is very stable and everything just works and has always worked great ...but still all this frequent updating? I realise that this is a pretty open ended question so feel free with a pretty open ended answer. I am just after your thoughts on this. My other question relates to prompts to Install or upgrade/update versions of updates. I usually just update or install as per the default that comes up. Am I doing the right thing here? Cheers. John

What you have described about the prompting for frequent updating every few days is entirely normal and certainly not a cause for concern. On the contrary, it's the way of things with linux and is actually a process that is looking after your installation and keeping it in an optimal state.

The reality is that linux and its distros are moving targets and the programs they consist of, including the kernel, are constantly being updated by developers and maintainers to take advantage of new developments. Such developments include resolving bug issues, adding new capabilities to programs, taking advantage of software or hardware improvements, updating security measures to cope with vulnerabilities, and other reasons too. The updates improve linux, which is the bottom line really.

One doesn't have to update every few days, or at every prompt for updating that the installation notifies the user. One can decide one's own updating preferences. One can, for example, update every five days, or weekly, or wait for a longer period, but as the length of time between updates increases, so the optimal state of the installation decreases. The upshot of that consideration, is that it's better to update often, and probably best to update at the advice of the distro whose developers and maintainers are usually at the pointy end of the matter and so in the best position to make the decisions that they do.

Personally, a few years ago when I made a move from one state to another, I needed to store my belongings for six months in a storage facility before I could take up residence in a new home. Two computers were in the storage for all of that half a year. When it came to setting them up again after the six months furlough, they were connected up, set to online and booted up. The updates that had gathered over the time stored were in their thousands, but the package manager dutifully went to work and downloaded everything and brought the machines up to date. Both machines were running debian testing. Of course there had been no risk to either machine in relation to accumulating vulnerabilities over the six months because they were out of action, but I thought at the time that the success and robustness of the updating processes was remarkable.

 

[bob466]

Updates are important for your system...so install all updates when available.

 

[JohnJ]

What you have described about the prompting for frequent updating every few days is entirely normal and certainly not a cause for concern. On the contrary, it's the way of things with linux and is actually a process that is looking after your installation and keeping it in an optimal state.

The reality is that linux and its distros are moving targets and the programs they consist of, including the kernel, are constantly being updated by developers and maintainers to take advantage of new developments. Such developments include resolving bug issues, adding new capabilities to programs, taking advantage of software or hardware improvements, updating security measures to cope with vulnerabilities, and other reasons too. The updates improve linux, which is the bottom line really.

One doesn't have to update every few days, or at every prompt for updating that the installation notifies the user. One can decide one's own updating preferences. One can, for example, update every five days, or weekly, or wait for a longer period, but as the length of time between updates increases, so the optimal state of the installation decreases. The upshot of that consideration, is that it's better to update often, and probably best to update at the advice of the distro whose developers and maintainers are usually at the pointy end of the matter and so in the best position to make the decisions that they do.

Personally, a few years ago when I made a move from one state to another, I needed to store my belongings for six months in a storage facility before I could take up residence in a new home. Two computers were in the storage for all of that half a year. When it came to setting them up again after the six months furlough, they were connected up, set to online and booted up. The updates that had gathered over the time stored were in their thousands, but the package manager dutifully went to work and downloaded everything and brought the machines up to date. Both machines were running debian testing. Of course there had been no risk to either machine in relation to accumulating vulnerabilities over the six months because they were out of action, but I thought at the time that the success and robustness of the updating processes was remarkable.

Great. Thanks. I suspected as much. The volume and frequency of updates is what threw me but as per your good advice plus my distro has always been working perfectly so I shall sleep easier now. Cheers

 

[JohnJ]

Updates are important for your system...so install all updates when available. View attachment 27156

OK. Will do Cheers

 

[bob466]

I can understand new Linux users being scared of updates...I remember back in the dark days of windoze...I used to check all updates for spyware and other nasties..that was before m$ stopped people doing this.

When you see updates...place your mouse on the arrow or the software and you'll see what it is.

 

[JohnJ]

I can understand new Linux users being scared of updates...I remember back in the dark days of windoze...I used to check all updates for spyware and other nasties..that was before m$ stopped people doing this. View attachment 27162

When you see updates...place your mouse on the arrow or the software and you'll see what it is.

View attachment 27163

Thanks Bob. Will do. Cheers

 

[Brickwizard]

, I have noticed from the start that Mint frequently (very frequently - every few days)

@osprey Has given you a very comprehensive answer,Updates for the Linux system come from your Distribution builders, the better ones check all incoming updates from both \Kernel source and 3rd party providers for compatibility and stability with their system before releasing to the user , so you know they will be free of all nasties, tested and secure as possible. when a distribution is new, it is not uncommon to get several updates a day, and as it matures it may be every few days, whichever please keep your machine fully up to date.

 

[JohnJ]

@osprey Has given you a very comprehensive answer,Updates for the Linux system come from your Distribution builders, the better ones check all incoming updates from both \Kernel source and 3rd party providers for compatibility and stability with their system before releasing to the user , so you know they will be free of all nasties, tested and secure as possible. when a distribution is new, it is not uncommon to get several updates a day, and as it matures it may be every few days, whichever please keep your machine fully up to date.

Thanks Brick. Understood. Cheers

 

[kc1di]

It's specially normal as they approach the release of 22.2
Which should be nearing release fairly soon. if you keep 22.1 updated you basically have 22.2 when it arrives.

 

[JohnJ]

It's specially normal as they approach the release of 22.2
Which should be nearing release fairly soon. if you keep 22.1 updated you basically have 22.2 when it arrives.

Yes. I was wondering about that. I usually prefer a clean install to get rid of baggage from previous releases. There is the usual starting from scratch pain-in-the-neck but as I generally don't do too many mods and changes I can live with this. cheers

 

[bob466]

Support for Mint Cinnamon 22.1 doesn't stop till 2029...so you won't need to do a clean install for 4 years.

When a new version of Mint comes out..I wait a few months for the bugs to be fixed. Then I do a clean install on a spare SSD of the same size and install everything. You can get a bad ISO and if you install it over your old version...you're in trouble.

At the moment I have Cinnamon 21.1 on my main SSD and 22.1 on the other SSD...by doing this...if there are any problems I've lost nothing. I have a system image of both...I've now have copied all files...software etc from 21.1 to 22.1 and will create an image of 22.1 and put it on my main SSD.

 

[JohnJ]

Support for Mint Cinnamon 22.1 doesn't stop till 2029...so you won't need to do a clean install for 4 years. View attachment 27178

When a new version of Mint comes out..I wait a few months for the bugs to be fixed. Then I do a clean install on a spare SSD of the same size and install everything. You can get a bad ISO and if you install it over your old version...you're in trouble. View attachment 27180

At the moment I have Cinnamon 21.1 on my main SSD and 22.1 on the other SSD...by doing this...if there are any problems I've lost nothing. I have a system image of both...I've now have copied all files...software etc from 21.1 to 22.1 and will create an image of 22.1 and put it on my main SSD. View attachment 27179

Yes. My thinking also. By the way, I am a big fan of Foxclone (and Timeshift). You too?

 

[bob466]

Yes..I've been using Foxclone from the beginning and it's never failed me...I also use Redorescue...https://sourceforge.net/projects/redobackup/files/

I've just put the image I created of Mint Cinnamon 22.1 on my main SSD with Foxclone...so now I'm using only 22.1.