Re: How do I permanently disable unattended downloads of software/security updates?

[l0f4r0@tuta.io]

Hi,

29 mai 2021, 09:06 de andreimpopescu@gmail.com: 

>> Question: What command can I type in a terminal to find out if the 
>> package "unattended-upgrades" is a *dependency* of some other 
>> packages?
>>
> These should do it.
>
> apt rdepends unattended-upgrades
>
> Read as "the reverse depends of", though it will also include other 
> package relationships.
>
> aptitude search '?depends(unattended-upgrades)'
>
> Read as "packages that depend on". This is interpreted literally, i.e. 
> it won't show any other package relationship (like Recommends).
>
I didn't know about `apt rdepends` thanks.
It appears the result is more explicit than `apt-cache rdepends`, that's a good point (easy to grep).

What is less good is that it's very easy to forget this behavior difference with time (like many things).
There are so many commands and possibilities around APT, it can be confusing sometimes...

NB: You can still filter `apt-cache rdepends` results with some other switches like `--no-pre-depends`,  `--no-recommends`,  `--no-suggests`,  `--no-conflicts`,  `--no-breaks`, `--no-replaces` and `--no-enhances`.

29 mai 2021, 01:32 de rewefie@gmx.com:

> Oh my God, are you telling me that we are not done with this "whatever thing you may call it"? I thought I could close this matter......lol
>
> Based on your vast experience of using Linux in general and Debian in particular, can you think of any other packages or files that could download software and security updates silently in the background?
>
"Vast experience"? I think you are probably flattering me lol
As said Socrates: "I know that I do not know.". It happens everyday for me ;p

Back to your question, here are other suggestions I can think about:
* cron-apt
* apticron (its goal is only to send notifications by emails but it certainly triggers `apt update` to do that. So maybe this update triggers some other things from your side as well, like widgets...)
* widgets/applets for your favorite desktop environment (I can't help you, I don't use any...)

NB: If not explicitely mentioned by a debian-user poster, most of the time (s)he is a subscriber of this mailing-list. At least I am, so you can omit my email address in each of your answers (I'm currently receiving all your emails twice) ;)

Best regards,
l0f4r0