Software And Updates Tool Disabled On Debian Trixie And Sid. Other Alternatives.

[@ChronologieIV]

Discover is showing that "Debian GNU/Linux 9" is available. Weird. Won't click there...

[@AndreaBorman]

That's strange. That shouldn't happen. I don't use Discover. I use Gnome Software Center. I think it's much better. You could uninstall Discover and try Gnome Software Center instead. Or you can just use Synaptic Package Manager. You don't really need a software Center as you can do all of your updates, view your software repositories, as well as view your update history in Synaptic. Although I do use Gnome Software sometimes most of the time I use Synaptic as it is more reliable. You can just use it without having any software Center installed.

[@ChronologieIV]

@@AndreaBorman I think I will uninstall it. I normally use apt or aptitude in CLI directly. I feel that I have more control with those ones.

[@AndreaBorman]

@@ChronologieIV Debian comes with Aptitude so I already have it. I do use the terminal but I also use Synaptic to update. Synaptic is worth trying as I find it is better. Gnome Software Center is another option as it will also install updates. It's an alternative to Discover if you want a software center. I like the Mint Software Center but unfortunately it can only be installed on Linux Mint. It won't install on anything else. I have tried on both Ubuntu and Debian but it just won't install at all.

[@UncleSpellbinder]

I’m running Debian unstable (SID) KDE Plasma. I have the same “Debian GNU/Linux 9” update. Clicking on it in Discovery just provides a generic error message. The only reason I have Discover is for Flatpaks. Otherwise, installing apps and updating Debian are done via Konsole.

[@chmod_444]

Great! Why don't you use Flatpak (or Snapd)?

[@AndreaBorman]

I don't have the need to use Snap or Flatpak because everything I need is in the Deb packages. If the software I want is not in Synaptic I just download and install it from the web or add the software repositories.

[@chmod_444]

@AndreaBorman Thank you!

[@chmod_444]

@@AndreaBorman While not strictly necessary, AppImage can be very useful and practical. Snap and Flatpak for Browsers is not a bad idea I think.

[@AndreaBorman]

@@chmod_444 Some of the software I have is Appimage. Other software that you download from the web comes as a Tar or Zip file. With those you just extract them with Archive Manager to a folder somewhere then run the program. That works as well.

[@Mzansi74]

Hello Andrea. 🙂 I think that the Debian team pulled it because it requires more work. I think that they will add it again. Thanks again for testing Debian Trixie for us and for another great video!

[@AndreaBorman]

Software And Updates also called Software Properties GTK (or QT if you are using KDE) wasn't in Debian Trixie at all. I installed Debian Sid Package which I downloaded from the Debian website which worked. Since the latest updates now it's not working at all. Software And Updates installs on Debian Sid but does nothing. It won't even open and it's the same thing on Trixie. Some other Linux distros don't have the Software And Updates tool either. Ubuntu has always included it to make it easier for users to manage their software repositories. The Ubuntu version also has a driver manager as well. Linux Mint has their own version of the tool but some other distros don't have it at all. Synaptic already has a link to your repositories in the settings. So does the Gnome Software Center and the Discover software center. Maybe the Software And Updates tool will be removed in future versions of Debian. I don't know or there could be some bugs. Which could be why it's not working. As I said not every distro is using it. when I tested Sparky Linux it's not in there so some distros don't have the tool. There are other ways to manage your software repositories and update settings. Though you shouldn't change or delete anything unless you know what you are doing. One mistake can mess up your system. It could be another reason why Debian removed it.

[@Mzansi74]

@@AndreaBorman Thanks for your detailed feedback. Your knowledge across the many Linux distros and tools are really astounding. Not only that, I really like the way that you present. Especially the one video where you played sound of the sounds. You are truly a breath of fresh air!

[@AndreaBorman]

@@Mzansi74 I have only used Linux Mint, Ubuntu and some other Debian based Distros. I used Q4OS and Sparky Linux which are both based on Debian. Now I use Debian which is now my main OS. I am an ex-Windows user. And on Windows there is a notification and event sound for everything. As well as a startup and shutdown sound. That's why I like to have sounds on Linux. Most of the desktops do have the option to have system sounds. Except for LXDE and LXQT where I tried everything but was not able to get any notification sounds. The only sound I could enable was the start up sound and that's it. I don't think LXDE or LXQT supports system sounds.

[@Mzansi74]

@@AndreaBorman Thanks for replying! Your videos make my day!

[@utsho-o8i]

yes Debian 13 gona enter into froze Very soon so i think this why thay do it

[@AndreaBorman]

It could be that or it could be that Debian won't be including the Software And Updates tool anymore. I don't know. One thing is if you are going to upgrade from Stable I think installing or upgrading to Debian Sid is better. I don't recommend Debian Testing anymore because lot of the packages are removed or held back from testing but they are not from Sid. So if you are on Testing you could find that the software you are using or is part of the system is removed in the next update. Another problem is that if you are on Testing. Debian often freezes updates for Testing a few months before they release it as Stable. Where as with Debian Unstable or Sid as it is called this doesn't happen. It is true that with Debian Sid it will never be released as Stable but you will get regular updates. So you will never have to reinstall your operating system again. Because it will never go end of life. So Debian Sid is better.