[Solved] - Cairo Dock suggests frequent reboot after many package updates

[AJSlye]

Well, linux-base would be a big one that would need a reboot, it's the suport files and scripts for the kernel image. Since dbus runs in ram, it would require a reboot as well, otherwise your devices may not register when pluged in and apps may quit talking to each other. But No, this is not becuase of systemd or anything like that, It's just a difference between how these applications work.

[kdemeoz]

OK, thank you, i guess that makes sense... but it then leads to a different inference, which is the polar-opposite of my initial thought. It might be that after all, the CD applet behaviour, & Kubuntu's Notifier, might not be the nuisances i imagined but instead a pretty important function. In contrast, Maui doesn't tell me, unless [armed with my new learning via your help above] i make it a regular habit to inspect reboot-required.pkgs after each Update Manager cycle. Or, i could simply continue using that CD applet, but start to actually believe what it tells me from now on. Interesting.

PS - I just checked in Synaptic, & saw that kubuntu-notification-helper is available for installation. Would that be a good or bad thing to do?

[AJSlye]

You have to remember that the Mint updater by default doesn't update packages that cary a 4 or 5 level that could potentially break your system, this would include packages like dbus, the kernel, xorg and linux-base, as such it handles reboot notifications using it's own mechanism. Since Mint update does use it's own mechanism and not those other files, and the fact that your updateing outside of Mint update, might be the reason behind your issue. If CD is already giving you this notification I see no reason to install kubuntu-notification-helper at this time, but if you were to quit using CD at some point and still wish to get that notification, then I see no reason why this package would cause you any issues.

PS: Please keep in mind that Mint updater is the prefered method for handling updates for the reasons of system stability that I already mentioned previously in this post.

[kdemeoz]

OK, thank you, but just to clarify in case i have unwittingly mislead you... i DO use Mint Updater, ie, what i have been calling Update Manager [they are the same thing, aren't they? -- "mintUpdate 4.9.3+git20160302.1222+8-0"]. And i do generally also select level 4 & 5 [again, in the Manager]. But it has not been telling me to restart, only that CD applet has been telling me that [& as per the very beginning of this thread, i never knew if i should believe it or not]. When i mentioned Synaptic, that's only when i want to install additional packages, but for update management of all my existing packages, i leave it to the Update Manager.

I kinda feel now that this thread has almost gone around a full circle     Given that the CD applet has been nagging me for 24-36 hours now to reboot, i suppose i'd better listen to it & do it... after i send this post.

[AJSlye]

After doing a search, I've found two comment threads on https://community.linuxmint.com/ that deal with this exact same issue:
5 years ago: https://community.linuxmint.com/idea/view/1680
4 years ago: https://community.linuxmint.com/idea/view/3100

And a more recent discussion here:
https://github.com/linuxmint/cinnamon-sc...issues/142

This seems to confirms that Mint update indeed does not notify the user when there is a system reboot needed.

[wonder]

OK, thank you, but just to clarify in case i have unwittingly mislead you... i DO use Mint Updater, ie, what i have been calling Update Manager [they are the same thing, aren't they? -- "mintUpdate 4.9.3+git20160302.1222+8-0"]. And i do generally also select level 4 & 5 [again, in the Manager]...

Also, like kdemeoz, I use mintupdate and generally also select level 4 and 5 for updates, but only CD applet indicate that I need reboot. In my past, when I was a user of linux mint, also, only CD applet indicate need reboot, never, systray notify.
Now, with Maui, the same, only CD applet notify for reboot.

[AJSlye]

OK, thank you, but just to clarify in case i have unwittingly mislead you... i DO use Mint Updater, ie, what i have been calling Update Manager [they are the same thing, aren't they? -- "mintUpdate 4.9.3+git20160302.1222+8-0"]. And i do generally also select level 4 & 5 [again, in the Manager]...

Also, like kdemeoz, I use mintupdate and generally also select level 4 and 5 for updates, but only CD applet indicate that I need reboot. In my past, when I was a user of linux mint, also, only CD applet indicate need reboot, never, systray notify.
Now, with Maui, the same, only CD applet notify for reboot.

Please read my last post.

[wonder]

Yes AJSyle, I posted my last post for kdemeoz, for confirm that (like you indicate), Mint update indeed does not notify the user when there is a system reboot needed, for confirm that, also I use CD and have the sames notifactions.

[kdemeoz]

To requote myself; "as i wrote before, i used to think that one major benefit of Linux over Windows was the lack of need to reboot after updates... maybe i was completely wrong about that?". The more this thread has unfolded, the more i now think that for the past few years [= since i began using Linux (= Mint)] i was entirely mislead by the OS never telling me i needed to reboot [to also repeat something else i said earlier, i never used this specific CD applet until i recently upgraded to Maui... i never used it with Mint, even though i did use CD in Mint]. It now looks to me like all that time, i probably did need to reboot after many of those routine updates, only nothing ever told me to. 

This is rather disappointing. One of the [many] things that annoyed me so much about Windows was the constant interruptions to my workflow by having to reboot after updates, so i now feel a bit shocked to belatedly discover that Linux is after all not much better in this detail. When i read of other Linux users boasting about system uptimes of weeks & months, how on earth is that possible, if in fact we actually do need to reboot quite often after routine package updates? Obviously i still do love Linux, & will never return to Windows, but this new info has quite shocked me.

Thanks for those links btw. The two Mint ones [4 & 5 yrs old] were not terribly relevant, as posters therein were fixated only on kernel updates, & i already know very well that i must reboot after updating my kernel; it's obvious. My concern in creating this thread is that the CD Logout applet, & that dedicated function in Kubuntu, tell me to update MUCH more often than i update my kernel.

[AJSlye]

Technically a reboot is only required after kernel or major system update (change). However, there is work to make live kernel updates a posibility in the future. Other things like dbus, samba, xorg, etc. only need to be reloaded after they are updated, it's just faster and easier to reboot sometimes depending on the number of these things that are updated. As far as long up-time numbers, this is usually the case for server systems that remain on long term suported operating systems like debian stable, Centos, etc., that are rearly updated and usually supported for upwards of 3 to 5 years. On these systems updates are only pushed out for security reasons and not because there is a newer version available. In the 20+ years that i've been working on and with Linux based systems, reboots have always been neccessary from time to time, even more so on systems with a rolling release model, or ones that have a 3 to 6 month release cycle like Ubuntu.