Different handling of phased updates in Software Center vs. apt in Ubuntu 22.04

Peter

4/28/24, 11:36 AM

So in How to force "packages [that] have been kept back" to be installed [as] "automatic"? and Ubuntu 22.04 and apt upgrade (and most likely a dozen other) they say

don’t outsmart phased updates

But … if them are not to be outsmarted … why does Ubuntu (22.04) outsmart itself?

apt tells me that packages are kept back
Software Center gets nervous if I won’t start updating the very same packages sooner or later
“nervous” as in keeping me notified about waiting updates

I am confused, to say the least.
Why do apt and Software Center have different ideas about phased updates (apt needs to be forced to apply them, Software Center just would apply them, when I command Download)?
Whom to trust? apt? Software Center? Both? Neither?

Can anyone give share some insight please?

$ sudo apt-get -y dist-upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following packages have been kept back:
  apache2-bin libglib2.0-0 libglib2.0-bin libglib2.0-data libglib2.0-dev libglib2.0-dev-bin
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 6 not upgraded.

$ apt list   apache2-bin libglib2.0-0 libglib2.0-bin libglib2.0-data libglib2.0-dev libglib2.0-dev-bin
Listing... Done
apache2-bin/jammy-updates 2.4.52-1ubuntu4.5 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.4.52-1ubuntu4.4]
apache2-bin/jammy-updates 2.4.52-1ubuntu4.5 i386
libglib2.0-0/jammy-updates 2.72.4-0ubuntu2 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.72.4-0ubuntu1]
libglib2.0-0/jammy-updates 2.72.4-0ubuntu2 i386
libglib2.0-bin/jammy-updates 2.72.4-0ubuntu2 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.72.4-0ubuntu1]
libglib2.0-bin/jammy-updates 2.72.4-0ubuntu2 i386
libglib2.0-data/jammy-updates,jammy-updates 2.72.4-0ubuntu2 all [upgradable from: 2.72.4-0ubuntu1]
libglib2.0-dev-bin/jammy-updates 2.72.4-0ubuntu2 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.72.4-0ubuntu1]
libglib2.0-dev-bin/jammy-updates 2.72.4-0ubuntu2 i386
libglib2.0-dev/jammy-updates 2.72.4-0ubuntu2 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.72.4-0ubuntu1]
libglib2.0-dev/jammy-updates 2.72.4-0ubuntu2 i386

Software Center updates:

0 + 5

software-center

upgrade

apt

22.04

David

4/28/24, 11:53 AM

Do not understand the question or your statement the the OS gets nervous.

user535733

4/28/24, 12:22 PM

The use of `-y` with `dist-upgrade` is impressively dangerous. It disables important protections *and* specifically tells apt that it's okay to destroy your system if the logical path leads that way.

user535733

4/28/24, 12:32 PM

It seems a bug in Software Center. It seems to resemble [LP:#1580833](https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-software/+bug/1580833). "*Whom to trust*" is apt.

vanadium

4/28/24, 12:41 PM

Indeed, that could be inconsistent buggy behavior. Formely, updates were phased only using the graphical tools. More recently also through apt. Perhaps through different mechanisms, hence conflict. Advice for now: only upgrade with the graphical installer.

Peter

5/12/24, 12:15 PM

@vanadium, looks like even the graphical tools have different opinions regarding phased updates … so “Software” (with the suitcase icon with square, circle and triangle on it and where the screen shot above was taken) says “OS Updates!”, whereas “Software Updater” (that grayscale icon with the A in it) takes the same course as `apt`/`apt-get` ;-(

Elon Musk

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