Linux @lemmy.ml UntouchedWagons @lemmy.ca 5 mo. ago

[Fedora 39] Why does Discover say there's updates while `dnf` say there's none? Also, why does Discover need to reboot to install said updates?

This is my one main complaint about Fedora Linux.

20 comments

Those updates in Discover are for flatpak, not dnf. You can verify that with flatpak update.

As for discover wanting to restart to do their update, that's a fedora thing for an extra level of safety while updating. You can read about it here.
- As for discover wanting to restart to do their update, that's a fedora thing for an extra level of safety while updating
  
  That shouldn't trigger for flatpaks though. No risk of breaking the system while updating flatpaks
Discover shows updates to both your flatpaks apps and dnf apps
Because those are Flatpak packages
Those are Flatpak updates. dnf can't see them I think.

happens to me in Arch with yay.
You can turn it off in the settings (may be system settings, think it's called offline updates).

It's a feature Gnome added and then KDE added too. Fedora isn't the only distro to implement it, but the most popular.
Try this: "sudo dnf update ; sudo flatpak update"
Discover checks knewstuff (global themes, plasmoids, etc.), Flatpaks, firmware and snaps, (which all have a relevant backend package something like (discover-backend-packagekit). Discover, well more like PackageKit, will let you know if a reboot is necessary if there's something like a kernel update.
If the kernel, initramfs, or a driver is updated, you have to reboot the computer to apply them (you can't reload the kernel while it's running). A user might not know or notice this, so GUI installers (and some CLI tools like pacman on Endeavour) often warn the user or sometimes force a reboot.
- I thought we would have learned from Windows, you should never force a reboot.
  
  I've never seen a distro force a reboot, Windows style. Only ever advise people to reboot.
I had reverse situation, discover said there's none of apps i need or/and updates, while dnf was working flawlessly
Looks like flatpaks updates
pkcon refresh
Permanently Deleted
- @heartsofwar @UntouchedWagons
  I use Discover on Debian testing and Arch, never once did it force me to restart on Arch, but on Debian it would say it is recommended.
  I don't think that's forcing me to restart, so I guess Fedora does that differently. 🤔
  
  AFAIK no distro forces you to reboot, but they all require it for some updates to take effect. You can't reload the kernel while the system is running.
  
  Fedora just makes that clearer to the user by only installing those updates when they're going to be active - after a reboot. I think it also blocks new system updates until the current set is completely finished.
  
  You can disable offline updates in the system settings, but I think they're a good idea, especially for the average user.
- I agree that packagekit is annoying and I just have automatic updates in the background using flatpak update -y and rpm-ostree update.