Security Updates - Who Supplies Them?

[Quarkrad]

I'm a newbie and sorry for the question - it is not quite accurate. I have just read that Ubuntu and Mint are based on Debian - I'm not sure if they are based on Debian or in some way/level exactly the same as Debian (just a different 'front end' and perhaps some extra features/enhancements). My question is - at some level, when the Download Manager 'tells you' some updates are needed/due and you update your machine, are the same updates applied to a Debian, Ubuntu and Mint machine? If (and I don't know) they all use the same kernel and there is a security update or patch update do they all get the same? Would being on a Mint machine make you 'behind' a Ubuntu machine in terms of updates or visa versa? I know Canonical own Ubuntu and assume they control/manage the Ubuntu updates - so do the owners of all three distributions management their own updates even though at times the updates might be exactly the same? This might be a stupid question! (I ask this because I've found out (I think I understand) that the Desktop environments (for a particular distribution) - e.g. Unity, Mate, XFCE, etc - sit on the same engine so in a way the machine underneath (ubuntu 10.04) is the same no matter what Desktop you have. Does the same apply at the next level up - Debian, Ubuntu, Mint).

[mikewhatever]

At some, purely abstract, level Debian, Ubuntu and Mint get, more or less, the same updates. However, since Debian and Ubuntu have separate repositories maintained by different people, and since package versions and naming may differ between the two, updates may also differ on the bit by bit level.

Furthermore, various Ubuntu derivatives get different updates for different packages they have included, for example, Kubuntu gets updates for KDE related packages, and Xubuntu for XFCE, etc.

Linux Mint doesn't have separate repositories, and uses either Debian or Ubuntu ones, so that its updates should be exactly the same as the parent distro gets.

[zombifier25]

Ubuntu, Debian does not use the same repositories. Ubuntu is based on Debian, but they are not one another. Some packages found in Debian may require certain modifications to work with Ubuntu (but some non-system packages will work just fine)

[Quarkrad]

Thank you - I shall start reading my history books for further info.