I have noticed an increasing number of update packages listed as “refreshes”. Given I am on a limited bandwidth connection, I find downloading packages that are the exact same version as the one installed annoying and costly. What is the purpose of this, and how do I prevent it?
I have also noticed that setting the config to “download all packages in the background” does not download the packages in the background. I sit and wait 10 minutes for it to download the list, only to sit and wait another 10 minutes (or more with flatpaks) for it to download again. Meanwhile, I am less focused on productivity and more on managing these updates. Its getting old. Fast. Why does it take so long, and so much bandwidth to download a “list”?
They have the same version number in Flathub’s schema, but not the same code. The most granular level of change in Flathub is a new “commit” that doesn’t bump the version number.
Hmmm… so… the best answer we have is that the devs are making changes to code, but not increasing versioning? And somebody though this was a good idea?
The thing is, they are not changing the code, but the packaging. Dependency lists, configuration fixes related to the deliver and installation, but not changing the developers’ code. The software has not changed.
If bandwidth is a concern, then anytime that is “rolling”, like neon and including flatpaks and snap, might not be an appropriate choice, perhaps.
Having said that, some flatpak bits sure do update with ‘refreshes’ a lot.
Now this is an Ubuntu-specific setting, not one found in Discover, so it only involves the system’s deb repos. Flathub and snap are completely separate from this. With that setting, apt will periodically check for Ubuntu/neon deb updates, and download them as they are found, for you to install when you get to it, if you don’t notice the update notification and start updating immediately.
Discover has no idea or connection to this, plus also checks for snap, flatpak, firmware, and KDE Store updates on top of the distro-native updates. It does have this annoying setup where it will go out and check all the different platforms for updates at every launch, even if it has only been a moment.
It might be helpful to edit the menu entry to launch Discover using plasma-discover --mode Browsing to skip almost all of the online activity on startup, and save some time. That is what I was doing for a while, when I was on a slow and metered mobile connection.
You can say that again. Many seem entirely unnecessary. Unfortunately the tip in your other reply wont work for me as I almost never use Discover to install software. I only ever open it to check for updates. I use Synaptic and the CLI to manage packages when necessary.
However, if you want up-to-date software, you’ll need to install flatpak.
And the issue you have “Refreshes of package x” are a flatpak thing…
This does require bandwidth, and there isn’t any workarounds.
Fortunately, you’re not forced to update and you can skip updates if you want =)
No, they are system files too. Keep an eye on the lists and you will see them in regular updates as well. This started long before I ever used Flatpak (only been using them a couple of months now). Flatpaks just exacerbate the problem.