APTus Upgrade Checker Options and Thoughts on Please

[kendew]

Elsewhere I've mentioned I install Linux systems on older computers to give away or fund raise.  Sparky LXQt Stable has been the one I've chosen for Lenovo X120e laptops and many of these will go to students or others generally new to Linux.  I tried a number of distros.  Each has its merits, and none is perfect, but Sparky all around has a lot going for it on this Lenovo laptop with radeon video chip.  Even so, I'd like to make improvements for ease of use.
A Sparky session, by default I think, generally starts with the APTus Upgrade Checker informing of any updates available, which there generally are.  I wonder if it's possible to tweak this tool.  I personally think it's a great tool.  In fact, it requires very little action or attention from the user.  But I think the way a number of terminal windows appear and disappear before the process is completed might confuse newcomers to Linux. 
Of course it should possible to just turn it off by disabling it in LXQt's session autostart settings.  But are there other possibilities?
My ideal would be for an upgrade checker to inform the user of critical security updates immediately but provide a way stable updating could be done once every week or two according to the user's preference.  For the users I have in mind I don't think they are going to need the latest packages on a daily basis. 
Is there a way it could just inform the user that updates are available? (Similar to Fedora)
Is there a way it could handle all the upgrading in just one terminal window session?
Could I make an alias in .bashrc that would handle what the aptus updating tool does that the user could run as desired?  What would that alias be?
Finally, am I over-reacting by thinking this automated updating procedure would be confusing to users, particularly to those new to Linux and arriving from Windows or MacOS?
Thoughts or suggestions appreciated.
Kendew

[pavroo]

it should possible to just turn it off by disabling it in LXQt's session autostart settings.  But are there other possibilities?

Can add an option to disable/enable checking upgrades at startup.

Is there a way it could just inform the user that updates are available? (Similar to Fedora)

Don't know how is it in Fedora, but choosing No will not make an upgrade, just quit.

Is there a way it could handle all the upgrading in just one terminal window session?

Put on my to do list.

Could I make an alias in .bashrc that would handle what the aptus updating tool does that the user could run as desired?

There is an upgrade handler in the menu, but it offers hours only, so can add every 1 day, 1 week or so.

[kendew]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply.
For a lot of us who love Linux, we are happy tweaking away, troubleshooting, and exploring an operating system's possibilities, so it was a bit of a culture shock for me to find most of the people I was offering these computers to had no interest at all in that.  They just wanted to turn the computer on, do their email or graphic work or whatever.  Anything else, like upgrading, was a challenge and a chore.  In fact, where systems didn't prompt to upgrade they wouldn't upgrade at all, and I was amazed, even months later, the computer was working fine! 
But I don't think it's unreasonable to prompt this group of users to upgrade, otherwise maybe they never will, but maybe just prompt once a week or so.  Also I'm not saying Sparky should change just for this group of users but maybe just have more options?

There is an upgrade handler in the menu, but it offers hours only, so can add every 1 day, 1 week or so.

This is exactly what I was hoping for.  I saw the System Upgrade Scheduler in System Tools of the LXQt menu.  But I didn't see any option for one week.  Can I edit a script or something to get it there?  That might solve my biggest concern.
The second concern is just about interface:
The upgrade notification appears, as it does now, in the lower right section of the screen.  This area of the screen is good because it's used less, and the user can generally continue with other tasks like web surfing, designing, or writing documents without the window getting in the way.  No change here.
What about if the user would only have to interact with the upgrade three times, once to choose Yes or No as to whether to upgrade, second to enter password, and finally to exit the process?
Could it all be done in one terminal window session, or, if that isn't feasible, having the different windows all appear in the same lower right area of the screen rather than popping up from various parts of the screen might be less confusing or distracting.  Maybe not as cool looking but a little more elegant.
Just a few thoughts, but for now if you could teach me how to get a one week option into the System Upgrade Scheduler I'd be appreciative.
Kendew

[pavroo]

Can I edit a script or something to get it there?

Yes, you could, but after a next upgrade of the tool, your changes will be overwritten and lost, so wait for my upgrade.

What about if the user would only have to interact with the upgrade three times, once to choose Yes or No as to whether to upgrade, second to enter password, and finally to exit the process?

In fact, when you go to the Upgrade window, there is a drop down menu, so simpy choose Exit to not upgrade.

Anyway, if you make your mind to upgrade your system a little later, without rebooting (to let the upgade checker start working again), use Upgrade System from the System menu to do it manually.

Edit
Moved new versions of sparky-aptus-upgrade & sparky-aptus-upgrade-checker to repos so update them.

[kendew]

In fact, when you go to the Upgrade window, there is a drop down menu, so simpy choose Exit to not upgrade.

I was referring to the way where now, from being notified to finishing upgrading the user has to interact four times, once to click "yes", then to enter the root password, then "yes" again to upgrade, and finally "exit" to end the process.  I was wondering if that third interaction was necessary since the user has already clicked "yes" and then entered the password.  No biggie, just one less click required.

Other than that, I got the update for the system upgrade scheduler, have selected "once a week" and will see if it works. 
I have one more question.  I'm ready to remaster this using the Sparky tool so I can install on multiple laptops.  I would like this "once a week" preference to carry over, so it will already be there.  Is there something I can put in /etc/skel?  Or has the preference already been registered there?  If so, where?
Thanks

[pavroo]

I'm ready to remaster this using the Sparky tool so I can install on multiple laptops.  I would like this "once a week" preference to carry over, so it will already be there.  Is there something I can put in /etc/skel?

You do not need to move it to skel, the Sparky's cron setting is placed in /etc/cron.d/ dir so should be copied as it is to a remastered iso.

[kendew]

Other than that, I got the update for the system upgrade scheduler, have selected "once a week" and will see if it works.

Well, after all is said and done, I can't get this to work.  System Tools --> System Upgrade Scheduler now offers the option of being notified of updates just once per week, at 10 am Monday, which is ideal for me.  But even though this option is selected, each time I log in, even if it's more than once a day, I am informed of updates available.  I've tried this both on a laptop and in a VM on my main computer with the same result.  Am I missing something?
Also, on the laptop which runs Buster (now stable), there were quite a number of updates, around a hundred, the same number as the VM install running Sparky testing.  I am wondering about this.  I expected Stable to be, well, a little more stable?
Thanks

[pavroo]

Sparky LXDE, LXQt & Xfce come with system upgrade checker enabled at system's strartup as default.
So, every time you start the system or login back to your desktop, the upgrade checker checks for new updates.

At the other hand, there is Upgrade Scheduler which lets you set additional checking time (hours, 1 day, 1 week), but make sure the default startup scheduler works independly.

So to let you fix that, there is a new option at the Upgrade Scheduler window called "UP - Enable/Disable checking updates at system startup" (Up from system startup). It doesn't use CRON, just system starting scripts, so... disable it.

Buster (now stable), there were quite a number of updates

Debian devs published the first update of Buster 10.1 last weekend, so you should get some extra updates anyway.

[kendew]

Okay, I've set the Upgrade Scheduler for once a week, which I'm informed will be Monday at 10 am.  I've also disabled checking updates at system startup as you suggested.  On top of this, I've taken the precaution to disable APTus Upgrade Checker in the LXQt Autostart Session Settings.
I guess I'll find out what happens on Monday.  I'm assuming that even if the computer is not on at precisely 10 am that I'll be notified of updates at the next startup.
Thanks!

[kendew]

Well, Monday has long passed but there was no notification of updates available, even though when I tried updating the usual Debian way (apt full-upgrade) there were upgrades installed.  The computer was not on at exactly 10 am, so I'm guessing this is the reason for lack of notification.  There was no notification also on successive attempts.
I would like the user to be notified once a week of updates, so I'm wondering if there is another way to word this cron job, perhaps by not programming it for an exact time but rather for a period of one week?  For example, I know of wifi networks that ask for my agreement to terms if it's been over a week since I last agreed to those terms, regardless of the day.