Annoying Package Updater

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1

Hello,

With OpenSUSE LEAP 42.3, there is now a Package Updater that pop ups often, sometimes several times per day, to offer some type of updates and I have
several issues with it:

  1. Unlike the Package Management utility, it strangely does not ask for root password which is dangerous and generally unsafe to allow system modifications. It is possible to have it require root to perform any changes?
  2. On each update, there is a context of 4 items but the last one ‘Ignore This Update’ is always greyed out. I can deselect something but it just appears again next time, so the list is growing uncontrollably. How can an update be truly ignored forever?
  3. Why the does it ask to update packages that are not installed in the system? I fear what would happen if I accidentally accepted one of these updates one time! Can it be configured to only offer updates for installed packages?
  4. How does one disable this entirely? Unless the above issues can be fixed, it would be best to simply stop this thing. Right NOW it just popped up again with 7 updates to things that are not installed!!! Even though within the last 5 minutes it had a dozen updates and I let it install all that were applicable. It it appeared again saying one of the updates is important.

How can the Package Updater be configured so that it is useful and neither dangerous nor annoying?

2

First, that update applet is part of a desktop. You fail to explain which Desktop Environment you use. Thus I will not give precise instructions to configure the one you see.

But to disarm all those, you could de-install Packagekit.
And live on verry happy with YaST/zypper.

3

OK, it was not obvious that it depended on something but if you mean Window Manager, I use XFCE. My Desktop is configured as a folder from XFCE.

Does that explain things?

Thanks!

4

I assume that you mean that your DE is XFCE.

I do not use that, thus I do not know much about the applet used there. I assume you can remove it?

In any case, removing Packagekit will make it (and its brothers/sisters) unusable.

Personaly, as KDE user, I have remove Packagekit as well as the KDE applet.

5

I have LXQt which uses the same Package updater. I just click on it to go away and then open zypper when it is convenient for me. I find the package updater useful in indicating, using red or orange whether the update is important or not.

6

Yes but the stupid thing is flagging to update packages that are not installed even!!! That is certainly bad but I can think of cases where it’s nice to see the updates, which is why I am asking about configuring first rather than disabling.