[Solved] - Accept or ignore certain updates?

[kdemeoz]

Generally speaking, can i pls get some advice on what my attitude to accepting or ignoring updates like these should be? For now i have left it pending.
   

[AJSlye]

Rule of thumb, do not apply updates of 4 and 5 unless you can fix the system if it breaks.
However, even if you do, we are here to help, so really it's up to you.

[kdemeoz]

Hi, thanks. Yeah, i am familiar with that rule of thumb, but... If an update [per picture] relates to "Base Files", that sounds to me simultaneously potentially catastrophic if it goes wrong, but otherwise logically important to accept... Base Files sounds pretty basic to my system, so QED, my system should be kept up to date with such basic files. All of which just keeps me going round in circles of indecision. Ha! My usual default attitude is to just take a deep breath & accept all such updates [whilst crossing my fingers, standing on one foot, & facing East], but i decided today i'd ask first.

[leszek]

Base-Files is something I don't advise to upgrade.
It is just a bunch of basic configuration files amongst the os-release and lsb-release files telling what distro you are running.
Usually with apt-get upgrade this should not be updated as the updated version comes from Neon and would overwirte those config so your system will be called Neon onwards which I don't think you want.

There is a nice little help in the update tool which tells you what those numbers mean for the updated packages.
Usually higher numbers mean higher risk of breaking your system.

[rocky7x]

Weell today the apt sources have been changed by the upgrade of the maui-apt-config and that is probably the reason why there is a new version of the package base-files. I've installed it and basically nothing happened. The only thing I'm not sure it the version of the system. Mine is currently this:

Code:

~$ cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=16.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=xenial
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS"

Is it correct, or does Maui have something else? I've checked via the Synaptic for other versions of the base-files package and I don't see any that would be explicitely related to Maui...

[leszek]

Maui has something else. Though it seem like mintUpdate ignores package priorities. Please install the base-files version of ds9 maui source.
See apt-cache policy base-files for all available sources

[rocky7x]

OK, I've found via my Maui VM that it was not correct - it updated from official Ubuntu repository, which I guess was added by the new Maui apt conf. The only valid version of base-files for Maui is the oldest one in the Synaptic version list - this one: 9+p8+git20160813.1003 - when I downgraded to it, the /etc/lsb-release is OK again:

Code:

~$ cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=1
DISTRIB_CODENAME=xenial
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Maui"

So indeed, base-files should not be upgraded. Funny though that after I downgraded back to the Maui version, it doesn't want to upgrade it anymore ;-) As if it doesn't see the newer versions as it did before...

[kdemeoz]

Well, after reading the interesting subsequent posts i feel really glad that i did ask, & now i certainly won't accept that update. Thanks lots for your explanation leszek, & thanks heaps rocky7x for being my brave unofficial guinea pig, selflessly destroying your system just to help me [i'm kidding] .. so v generous of you!!    

[rocky7x]

Anyway, I've found out that after the maui-apt-conf is upgraded and base-files pops up in the upgrade list, it is sufficient to refresh the list once more and it will disappear again - tried it in the VM and it worked like that. So it's not needed to upgrade and downgrade the base-files at all.

[leszek]

Yeah seems to be the consequence of the repo change as the priorities list got changed for the new repo too but needs a refresh to really be reread.