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I have an Ubuntu 12.4 CD. If I install it to my computer, is it mandatory to install the updates it shows when I boot from it? What are the risk involved in not installing the updates? I will be using the system mainly at home for personal use, I will be connecting to Internet for mail, chat and surfing.

karthzDIGI
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    If you do connect to the web why would you not update your system? – Rinzwind Apr 08 '13 at 14:55
  • @Rinzwind In my office laptop I usually install updates, security is the top priority in that case. Last month I installed updates of 640MB and this week 412MB of updates. But for my home PC I am using a limited internet connection of 2GB/month. But 'The amount of problems reported where a Ubuntu desktop is compromised seems close to 0% compared to Windows.' this statement in your answer really answered my question. – karthzDIGI Apr 09 '13 at 06:03

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In general I would advice to update and if you can not for whatever reason to try to keep up with at least the security updates. Those tend to fix flaws that might compromise your system.

The risk? For a personal system those seem negligible to me. The amount of problems reported where a Ubuntu desktop is compromised seems close to 0% compared to Windows.

  • You might run into a bug that was already solved in one of the updates at a time where it is inconvenient (bugs always appear when you least need to see them).
  • You might want to update at some point but due to kernel updates you need to reboot several times to get things updated.

You might get into trouble if someone decides to specifically target you and you have security holes (in flash, a browser or your kernel as examples).

In short...

Better safe than sorry. Do try to update and always make backups of your personal files.

Seth
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Rinzwind
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    Yes! Always, always (always!) make a backup of your files. It may not seem like it now, but some day you will be really happy you did! – Seth Apr 08 '13 at 15:08