No apt updates for over two weeks?

[Charleso19]

No apt updates for over two weeks?

Hi there,

I have noticed that sudo apt update has resulted in stating that All packages are up-to-date for a while now.

Having checked the Muon Package Manager GUI history, it confirms that there have been no updates since the 16th December 2020.

Is this the same for everyone else? I thought this is quite unusual as there is usually a constant flow of updates every few days.

My distro is Lubuntu 20.04 LTS focal.

[KGIII]

I’ve seen a number of these. You’re yet another one that hasn’t had updates starting on the 17th. Try changing your mirrors.

https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archivemirrors

There are currently 150 instances of ‘unknown’ on that page. I’ve mentioned it a couple of times on the AU site but I wouldn’t have even the slightest of clues where to report this and nobody seems to have picked up on the coincidence. I also suspect many folks also just haven’t noticed that they’re not getting updates.

For the time being, pick a mirror that has been updated recently. Then, you should be able to run the update command and get the new updates. When the mirrors go back to ‘normal’ you can switch back if needed/desired.

[guiverc]

@KGIII

I wouldn’t have even the slightest of clues where to report this

Reporting it is to the ISP that has fallen asleep, but they’ll often ignore tickets that aren’t from their own customers. At least that’s my understanding.

I complain (raise ticket) with my ISP when they fall far behind (or have mucked up permissions which occurs). I don’t believe Canonical/Ubuntu have any sway; there is no contract/penalty (outside of reputation) involved.

(More mirrors reduce Canonical’s (file-serving) cost; their only action as I understand it is to drop (or threaten to drop) the mirror from the list if the don’t rectify their issue).

This is FYI & maybe dated info also (though I doubt it’s changed).

[KGIII]

The thing is, the various complaints that I’ve noticed happen at/around the 17th being the last time they got an update. Changing the mirror seems to resolve this.

That they’re all on the 17th is certainly a remarkable coincidence.

I’ve seen one comment that indicated the attitude I think others have. It went something like, “Well, it’s the holidays, so maybe there aren’t any updates.”

Except there are updates and have been updates since the 17th. In fact, you even commented in one such AU question - as memory serves.

So, I think there’s something afoot and I have no idea who I’d even report it to.

In hindsight, had I known, I’d have kept better track of the questions regarding this. There have been at least a half-dozen mentioned here and there, with several on AU and one here and another on another forum I frequent. They’re all at/about the 17th of December.

That’s a remarkable coincidence. I can’t even begin to speculate why.

I too noticed several days without updates - but I changed my mirrors before this even started showing up on the forums. I figured it was just the one mirror being flaky.

[guiverc]

I’ve seen & noted the reports (AU & elsewhere, even UF) too, but to me it’s issues that occur every so often.

A normally reliable mirror falls behind (possibly an internal change is implemented) and users don’t notice all at once, but soon do notice & a flood of support queries occur. Mirror issue will resolve in my experience once bug report is raised; and support issues disappear (till next time, on different mirror).

I’m involved with Ubuntu News, and Canonical made a change to the hosting of Ubuntu Fridge… That site is mirrored on Ubuntu News, a process that is automatic & thus I (we?) pay little attention to it… As I login to fridge, that’s where I tested the change… but some-time later I noticed feeds on google are behind (they get it from ubuntu-news it turns out) … issue is detected, and with luck will be fixed soon

As I see it, this is an issue that props up 2-3 times a year, for different mirrors, and they resolve with time. Either the ISP notices (someone complains I suspect), or someone working at the company noticed. At times it’s quick, other times it takes weeks (if you looked, the Ubuntu News site is now 3 weeks behind Ubuntu Fridge… I wish I’d noticed that earlier & chased up… but it happens, and we’ll get there)

FYI: Thank you for your support efforts @KGIII

---

Additional Later thoughts: It’s the same period of time as the Ubuntu Fridge/News changes… I’m not a web person, so much of what I was told with regards changes being made by Canonical sailed way over my head… It’s about the same time though (we [Ubuntu news Team] could schedule the when). It’d be impacting MANY MANY mirrors if it was a Canonical change, so I suspect it’s still a ISP issue personally

[KGIII]

@guiverc

props up 2-3 times a year

I’ve seen it for a day or two, but this is going on 2 weeks. I’ve never (which is only one data point) seen it that long, but I have absolutely no idea how widespread it is. My hunch is that it’ll be fixed before too many people even notice. Thus my suggestion that they change their mirrors and then just switch 'em back whenever it blows over.

I’m pretty sure someone’ll notice and fix it! (I take that attitude with all sorts of stuff - it’s remarkably successful!)

[KGIII]

I don’t suppose anyone knows if there’s an online source where I can see the newest updated packages for Ubuntu?

Also, don’t try to edit stuff after you’ve had more than one or two glasses of wine.

[That_Random_Guy]

I honestly don’t know how “accurate” these guys are but I know of one site:
https://pkgs.org/

I googled this:
https://packages.ubuntu.com/

Also no idea if they update that for accuracy…

[KGIII]

Thanks. I know about that site and I could probably dig into it and find out. I hadn’t thought about that. I was hoping for something that had a list of updates issued on a day kinda thing, but I can do it with that link. It just takes some work, thanks.

[Charleso19]

Hi guys,

Thank you for all your comments.

I tried @KGIII’s method of switching mirrors (via Software Sources), however, it still states that I am up to date. I switched to several up-to-date mirrors and mirrors that were a few hours behind from various different countries, but still no success.

Some of you mentioned that it could be a ISP issue? Would anyone be able to explain that or point me in the right direction for sources to find out?

Any help is much appreciated!

[guiverc]

I work with the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, the last issue has a very clear

Security Updates

No activity this period.

A single mutter update was listed for that week for focal/20.04, but if you don’t have mutter installed you won’t have had that.

There were more the week before (UWN #622), but you can check yourself (it’s a weekly publication).

The latest release usually has the most updates (that’s groovy/20.10, of course ignoring development/hirsute). Older stable releases get fewer generally (only back-ported security updates)

packages.ubuntu.com is accurate, and a great source (you can search it from terminal too, but as I often find myself using the Changelog that’s found online), but if it worries you, you can always scan the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter at the Ubuntu Fridge / UbuntuForums / wiki & other places where it’s posted.

In the end, we all need to check it ourselves, as we tend to change the packages we have installed. Yes I used to like using a different method of checking what updates occurred, but working on UWN since 2015 means I didn’t need it, and no longer remember it, so sorry @KGIII (we collect up & publish it… if you want to know our source, have a look at the UWN scripts for our sources).

[Charleso19]

Thank you, @guiverc.

So it appears there just hasn’t been any updates over the two week period. I guess developers need some time off too, haha.

Thank you to you and the others for all your help!