smart vs default upgrade

[akcanadianeh]

Ok, I don't know how n00b this may sound, but what is the practical difference between a default and a smart upgrade in Synaptic, why would I use each, and which one does the Ubuntu Update Manager use?

[Devi0s]

From the Synaptic Help menu:

Default Upgrade

The default upgrade method marks upgrades of installed packages only. If the later version of a package depends on not installed packages or conflicts with an already installed package, the upgrade will not be marked.

Smart Upgrade (Dist-Upgrade)

The smart upgrade method tries to resolve package conflicts intelligently. This includes installing additional required packages and preferring packages with higher priority.

Smart upgrade is also known as dist-upgrade in the console tool apt-get.

[akcanadianeh]

Thanks for the reply, Devi0s. I read that in the help file too. What I haven't been able to find out is this: Is there a downside to always using the smart update, and does the Ubuntu Update Manager do a default or a smart?

[Segovia]

Ubuntu Update Manager do a default or a smart?
I'm fairly certain that Ubuntu Update Manager does a default upgrade. The reason I say that is because on one occasion, it informed me that I should launch Synaptic and do a Smart Upgrade for certain packages.

If you're only using the official Ubuntu repositories and Hoary/Warty, you can simply do a dist-upgrade (smart) every time (or just follow the advise of Ubuntu Update Manager) - since only security patches will be on those repos.

If, on the other hand, you're using some third-party repositories, then you should always take care not to do either type of upgrade blindly.