Ubuntu

Multiple miscellaneous updates

Asked by Geoff Johnson

I read that Linux Ubuntu is updated twice each year, in April and September, but I keep getting an "updates ready" message that advises me that an update is available every few days, and the update is "secure boot dbx configuration updates", which means nothing to me. I keep telling it to remind me later.

Is it safe to run this update, which I cannot find any information on? Does anybody know what it does, and why it is better than the existing software, which seems to work fine?

Any help/advice appreciated.

Many thanks,
Geoff. Johnson.

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Manfred Hampl
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Best Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#1

You are mixing up different things.

"Linux Ubuntu is updated twice each year"
Twice a year (in April and October) new Ubuntu releases are published (numbered accordingly, e.g. Ubuntu 20.04. 22.04, 22.10, 23.04)
Updates to single packages are done permanently, as soon as a bug is detected that requires update, and new kernel versions are published every few weeks - for all Ubuntu releases. This can cause a handful of updates being offered every few days.

The "secure boot dbx configuration updates" thing is something different.
It is coming from outside Ubuntu and seems to be relevant mainly for Dell computers, see also the discussion in https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/703205
I have not seen any comment that installing that update would have broken something, so I assume that it is safe to install it.

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Geoff Johnson (geoffjohnson) said : 		#2

Thank you for your answer. When the update message re-appeared, I told it to go ahead. The only change I have noticed since is that the keyboard disconnected from the Dell and I had to reboot; and the mouse pointers went a bit silly for a while. Otherwise, it seems a waste of time. I do (having worked with MS Windows for years) wonder about viruses - do they appear on Linux? I do not have any virus checking software installed, as per received wisdom.
Thank you for your help, I will mark this as solved. GJ