Update frequency

General system
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Hi there as new user of Endeavour OS, I use yay -Syu to update. A gamer friend, long time arch user says only update once a week, he says arch can break system, so by waiting a week most things will be solved in a week.
But that then takes a long while to update, a bit like manjaro.
Little and often is easy, but what is best practice please.

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That’s a good question, and the short answer is: there is no golden rule that fits everyone.

There usually are daily package updates by Arch. I’m updating daily, and often even many times a day, because I see no reason to wait. But that’s just my opinion.

What I do not recommend is updating too seldom, like less frequently than once a month. Personally I’d recommend updating at least once a week. And once a day is not bad either.

Arch has a very good news web page (https://www.archlinux.org) where they announce very quickly if some manual intervention is required. That is a good page to follow.
Also, at EndeavourOS forum (https://forum.endeavouros.com/latest) you’ll very soon find out if there are any glitches found. And the remedies usually come very fast.

And if you think of it, what does waiting a week help, if at the day you update the system, an hour ago released package causes trouble?

Anyway, usually, if there are any issues, they are quite easy to solve by looking at the web pages mentioned above. Actually, it is a great idea to look at those web pages just before updating.

Hopefully this answers to your questions. And I also wish you a long and successful journey with EndeavourOS. You’ll notice (or have already noticed) that this forum is very welcoming and friendly!
:smile:

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I have used both Manjaro and Antergos prior to switching over to EndeavourOS.

When I first started using Manjaro and Antergos I would update the system as soon as I got a notification that updates were available.

That was where I ran into trouble. TWO TIMES the systems were damaged such that the computer(s) would not boot at all. It only happened twice (once with each distro which were on two different computers) but that was enough to get me quite upset each time.

At those times, going onto another computer, I was able to go to the respective forums and I quickly found the answer(s) (fixes) to the problem(s).

But I really don’t want that sort of thing to happen again.

So now, with EndeavourOS, I update just once a day - and once a day only. I do this first thing in the morning when I turn on the computer.

So far I have not had any major problems at all, just a couple of minor ones which were fixed because of the people on this forum helping me. This EndeavourOS forum is the very best forum I have ever used in twelve years of using GNU/Linux distributions. (Some of the people on this forum were on the Antergos forum as well.)

To make it easier for me, I have turned off all update notifications so that I won’t even be tempted to update outside of my normal updating time. I had installed EndeavourOS on my computers back in July so I do not have any of those “annoying” (at least to me) eos programs (and, on my wife’s computer on which I just had to reinstall EndeavourOS, I uninstalled the eos programs so she would not be bothered with such notifications at all).

We both have pamac-aur-git installed but I have it set (in the Settings Manager/Session Startup/Application Autostart) to NOT start automatically on booting so I won’t get any of its update notifications. I just turn it on manually when I want to use it.

Anyway, that’s my solution to your question. By updating just once a day in the morning (I live in the East Coast of North America) I find that most problems have already been solved and the updates go very quickly (generally under five minutes).

I hope that this is of some interest to you.

Lawrence

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Hello @atgo
I update whenever I see an update. Can be multiple times in a day or not …depends.

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I update daily, in the morning when I boot my computer. If updates come in during the day I usually update again.

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Nice! I second the notion that EndeavourOS is the very best GNU/Linux forum.

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I’m with those who update as they come, no show stoppers for me in years with Arch, Antergos, Manjaro and now Endeavour.

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i try not to fast not to slow but steady :slight_smile:

depend which components get update systemd kernel updates tent to wait a day 1 a 2 longer…my laptop update once in 2 weeka a month…not so much on the laptop :slight_smile: mostly on y desktop 1 a 2 days depend, little non systemic update i do bit faster…

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Thanks for your replies everyone, I will go with once a day, I have decided not to install pamac, and I see no notifications from eos updates. I use yay -Ss package name to search for the packages I need, if I struggle with that I could always install pamac and turn off notifications, and use pamac as a search tool for packages I need or want to try.
Endeavour deserves to be higher up the distrowatch rankings, and I am sure it will get there, because it is fast, reliable and forum is user friendly.

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I’ve been using Antergos/Arch/whatever for 4+ years and have yet to have an update break anything of importance. Updating all the machines at least once per week. Also signed up for mail notifications on arch announcements so I get notified when manual labor is required.
https://lists.archlinux.org/listinfo/arch-announce

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That’s a great idea, Vladimir! :smile: :wink:

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The email notification is really handy. Especially as my mobile goes “blipp”, so I wont miss it.

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Thanks for the link to this list. I just subscribed to it.

Lawrence

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From experience e-mail notifications don`t get delivered as fast. I have noticed up to a week delay before I got notified of an issue.
Still, the safest way is to visit Arch News yourself.
Cheers

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Didn’t want to start another thread.

I see recommendation is between daily to weekly.

But found out I may need to be travelling for work end/start of next year. It means I could be away from home 3-4 weeks at a time with 3-4 times a year.

I would be taking company and personal laptop, so I can bring USB sticks to troubleshoot at hotels or other accommodation.

But problem is my desktop. Month’s worth of updates on desktop each time I go abroad is a bad idea? Or you think that should be fine?

I just thinking of just sticking on Debian for less updates but keep personal laptop running with EOS.

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Updates do not require much bandwidth. Weekly would be fine. Can you tether to your cell phone?

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Apologies I meant my desktop is problem. Can’t carry it with me abroad :smiley: So I can only update upon return. Would leaving month worth of updates be bad generally?

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i got a laptop for my camping i update only when i need it :wink: i update it 4 times a year… risk higher offcourse.

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Thanks! Gives me more confidence on less frequent updating :slight_smile:

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@QAP
why no do vm install of Arch/Endeavouros , install few thing you use /need then no update that in 1 month ( while have free time ) you see if mind at rest or panic :rofl:.