Ubuntu 21.04. Does apt update and apt upgrade work on all apps?
Newbie here. About 3 weeks ago I switched from Windows 10 to Ubuntu 21.04. Occasionally I do ‘sudo apt update’ and ‘sudo apt upgrade’. Does this update/upgrade all my apps? If not, how can I tell which apps are not getting updated/upgraded?
I want to keep all my apps up to date. I have installed a few snaps, flatpaks and appimages.
Apt only works on deb packages. Nothing else.
It doesn't work on Snaps. Nor Flatpaks. Nor Pips. Nor Wheels. Nor Brews. Nor git clones. Nor source code that you compiled or downloaded or write. Nor anything else.
As the system admin, it's YOUR responsibility to keep track of what you install. Apt is one great tool to help make your tracking super-easy and prevent many common mistakes, but it's just software: It cannot be responsible for the consequences of your decisions.
Generally, for new users, we recommend that you stick to the default Deb and Snap packages in your Ubuntu Software application. When you are ready to handle the learning curve, risks, and bookkeeping of the many other methods, then you can swim in the deep water.
You can create an alias for the command like
sudo sh -c "apt update && apt dist-upgrade -y && snap refresh && flatpak upgrade -y"
to get upgrades for applications from all sources - APT, Snap and FlatPak.
To manage AppImages you can install AppImageLauncher from the AppImageLauncher - Stable PPA - Official Releases to your system by using commands below:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:appimagelauncher-team/stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install appimagelauncher
and then check its updater component for AppImages which support AppImageUpdate routine.
how can I tell which apps are not getting updated/upgraded? By knowing which packages have been upgraded, you can know which ones have not been upgraded. You just have to hit this command before upgrade (and after update):
apt list --upgradable
Or you can hit this command.
apt-get update && apt list --upgradable
apt updates works with deb packages alone. As a new user though I recommend you install the software and snap store desktop applications . They often show the packages with latest updates and you always update with one click.