Introduction to Application Updates
Author(s): Matthias Lee (ml2322)
Last Updated: 8-13-2025
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None! This is an introductory article.What is Application Updates?
Application Updates simply refers to updating the software on the system.
Why is this important?
Keeping your software up to date is important, as it ensures that you are using the latest versions of all software. This makes sure that you have the latest security patches and therefore reduces the attack surface.
How to update packages
To update packages on Debian-based linux distros (Ubuntu, Mint, Debian, etc...), we use APT.
apt update
Before we can actually update the packages, we need to run sudo apt update. While counterintuitive,
this does not update the packages themselves, it updates the package lists so that APT knows what
to actually update. To get started, run:
user@system:~$ sudo apt update
...
apt upgrade
Now that our package lists are updated, we can actually update everything. To do this, we use the
command: sudo apt upgrade. This will fetch and install the latest versions of all packages on
the system, keeping you up to date with the latest security fixes.
user@system:~$ sudo apt upgrade
...