best practice updating apps installed from .deb?

account-minute

6/17/24, 7:20 AM

I know two sources of software: from a repository or a .deb file.

Repositories are maintained, and are updated every time the system updates - its automatic. (i.e sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade will update your package). The system will know if it needs to be updated.

But what happens with apps from .deb files? When do they get updated? How do they get updated? Is it manual? How do you know when to do it? etc. etc.

What is the best practice for keeping this kind of app up to date?

394

1 + 1

updates

package-management

security

apt

guiverc

6/17/24, 7:24 AM

Best practice is always add a *trusted* source to your system, and install from that source (*which will update along with normal system packages are per your system policy*).

Score:6

Ubuntu

user535733

6/17/24, 11:57 AM

Best practice is to avoid manually downloading and installing .deb files.

Distros (like Debian and Ubuntu) are the standard mechanism to push updates to users. When you manually download and install a deb, you are doing so outside the distro. Checking for updates becomes your responsibility. You must learn that project's release and update cycles, mark your calendar, manually check, manually update, and manually test and maintain. It's a lot of work...which is why Debian developed the package/distro method over 20 years ago to automate that administrative burden.

The easiest way for free software developers to distribute their software is to use distros. Organizations that eschew using this effective, decades-old model usually do so for a reason. It's up to you to determine that reason. And it's up to you to balance that reason against your convenience.

+ 2

iamnytik

6/17/24, 12:31 PM

Another problem that needs to be emphasied with manual .deb installation is that it can affect the stability of your system,i.e New versions of a program incompatible with older existing dependencies or vice versa.

Austin Hemmelgarn

6/17/24, 4:50 PM

‘Do so for a reason’. 99% of the time it’s that they cannot meet the packaging requirements of the distro (say, Discord or Slack) and that it’s a _serious pain in the arse to set up and maintain your own repo_ (speaking from experience on this one, especially on the Debian/Ubuntu side of things, APT repositories are _horribly_ engineered and a pain in the arse to maintain).

Elon Musk

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