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“I should just ignore the updates- every day there seems to be new updates- none of which I even need- likely-”

Now I have to be honest, that is one thing that did bother me when I first got Linux. They do indeed spam and promote packages and apps that you DO NOT need. It is in house marketing pushing optional stuff they are just promoting. “We recommend you try and support this app too!”. But at least they do not try and force you to install it or else like MS does.

But those can be turned off with the “just keep my computer safe” option in the update manager. But I have noticed even there they still throw a few of those in as “recommended”. Even Mint themselves once made a comment that if everything you are using is working well then there is no need to update anything. Don’t fix what isn’t broken.

But the system doesn’t completely ignore important changes even with updates turned off. Because as you know one of the fantastic features of Linux is how all the app installer options work. Whether you use the software manager app, Synaptic, or the terminal, every time you install an app it takes inventory of what you already have to determine if that app is going to need any extra dependencies you do not already have. And if you do need extra dependencies for that app to work right, it will also go and fetch those for you along with the app as one combined install action. So in this way it is minimally updating it’s self all along each time you add an app.

But once in awhile I read about new features or improvements that have been added to certain apps. That is when I go out of the way to update or upgrade that one particular app. With my newer 20.0 install I do once in awhile turn the update manager back on, propagate a new list, and let it install only the security updates. If everything else is working fine I leave everything else alone and just turn the update manger off again so it doesn’t bug me. And so far, this has never caused any issues at all. A linux user has to drop the “must constantly update” frame of mind. That is a hangover from the MS constantly forced updates ball and chain. :)