Comment # 21 on bug 984778 from Tony Mechelynck

Now that the version of zypper in the 42.3 Update-OSS repo accepts the "zypper
patch --with-update" command, which in essence will do the same as "zypper up"
except that it stops after installing a package manager patch if there is one,
I, the reporter, regard this bug as FIXED. I'm only leaving it open in
deference to Michael Andres's wish in comment #18.

This option is even mentioned near the top of the "patch" section in the zypper
manpage. Maybe a few examples of typical uses of zypper, including this one,
could be added near the top of the manpage, let's say between the DESCRIPTION
and CONCEPTS sections, but I'm not even sure of that, and for me it would just
be a low-priority cherry-on-the-cake enhancement.