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About to accomplish an update for the current packages installed - since Ubuntu 18:04 to 20:04 for Desktop and Server environments - I have been always using:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Note just in case - I never used the apt-get command, it according with:

So far practically, I had none problem and all work as expected.

About do an upgrade, I saw practically in all the tutorials being used the same pair mentioned above, and of course it has sense, but in few places I saw the sudo apt full-upgrade command being used.

Questions

  • When use sudo apt full-upgrade?
  • When is mandatory?
Manuel Jordan
  • 2,082

1 Answers1

5

upgrade is a more cautions way of upgrading than full-upgrade.

upgrade will never remove one of your currently installed programs. full-upgrade may.

If some new package would require newer dependencies that are not compatible with one of your currently installed programs, that upgrade will not be performed with the upgrade option. With full-upgrade, however, any upgrade will be performed. If that upgrade causes incompatibility with a currently installed package, that package is removed.

I am not sure how likely such scenario is when you use the standard Ubuntu software sources. The Ubuntu packages certainly try to avoid a program suddenly breaking during the life time of your current distribution. Such scenario may be more likely when using third party PPA's.

vanadium
  • 97,564