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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Is Debian with automatic updates a good idea? (lemm.ee)

submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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So a while back I threw Ubuntu 22 LTS on an old Surface Pro 3 and gave it to my Dad.

He loves it, but he's the type who's been burnt by updating software in the past, so he basically refuses any whenever prompted.

Been thinking about throwing Debian with Gnome on it for a while, and wondering if it's stable enough to just let updates happen automatically in the background?

I got no experience with Debian I basically jumped right on EndeavourOS as my main distro when I started using Linux full time.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I've diverged from Debian for desktop use for a few years now (no particular good reason, just for fun) but I have extended family with about the same affinity to updates as your dad.

I think automatic updates for regular end users are nice nowdays, especially if you don't customise stuff too much (DEs, wm, things like that). And even if some issues ever occur in return you get a continuously up-to-date and safer system (imho worth it). And its not like not-updating os solves the issues, it just postpones them, potentially snowballs them (and in that case I just reinstall it).
I switched my dad to Tumbleweed like 3 years ago & set weekly automatic updates, literally no issues with it.

As for serves, Im all for automatic updates in home environment, since my kinda worst case scenario is rolling back to a previous snapshot.
Maybe I could set backup services on a separate node with delayed updates ... but I need more motivation (a clusterfuck) for that.