Thomas Hertweck wrote:
... because the "System Update" is no "update" but an "upgrade" (it installs completely new versions of software packages!).
No, it performs a system update by doing package upgrades. That's a difference
That's what I've said before and asked to change - it should be called "System Upgrade". The names are confusing. I've seen many people trying to use this tool called "System Update" to upgrade to the next version of SuSE Linux - as they tried this while the system was running, it was bound to fail!
Actually I think more people would be tricked if it was renamed to System Upgrade, don't you? The System Upgrade that gets started when you boot from the CD is the yast installer program. Not yast2-update. They both use the same package management modules, that's true, but the rest is different. For one thing, yast2-update will not change the product version details in the product database file (which is the main reason for the problem described in the sdb article you linked to).
And that was what I had in mind when writing my last email. In principle, this module should not allow to upgrade to an entire new SuSE Linux version (incl. the base packages). I've never used "System Update" as I could not see any use of it. I've always installed new software via the "Software Management" module and I still can't see the sense of the "System Update" module after reading your mail...
I use system update all the time, to update the packages from the supplementary directories and from Packman. I find it much easier to work with for mass updates (package upgrades) than the software management module, which I mainly use for single package installations and removals. Of course it is possible to use Software Management for it, so in that sense I'd agree with you that System Update is redundant. File a wishlist bug in bugzilla for it and see what the yast developers think of it. Or join the novellforge YaST project and submit a patch