Thomas Hertweck wrote:
Sorry Anders, you're wrong!
Sorry, I'm not.
A bunch of RPMs should be installed via "Software Management" - just add the Packman repository as installation source and that's it. YOU (=Update) is for bug and security fixes, and "System Update" is indeed for upgrading from one SuSE Linux version to another SuSE Linux version, and there is no manual fixing necessary if you do a correct(!) upgrade. You can't upgrade the base system while your system is running, therefore you need to boot from CD/DVD to start the "System Update".
That's not the System Update. The System Update is a YaST module in the software section.
If you do not care about this, then you end up with what you've just described (a buggy system), and there is even an SDB article about it: http://portal.suse.com/sdb/en/2003/10/thallma_you_oldpatches.html
I'm well aware of this (I work there) but what you're talking about is not System Update. You're talking about a system upgrade from CD or DVD, which is how it should be done. What the OP was asking was what the difference was between online update and system update, which is a fair question considering that the icons are next to each other in YaST and the distinction isn't very well made by YaST