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JES
Asked: 2020-11-13 10:16:47 +0800 CST

Update system except thunderbird, due to critical implementation of enigmail into TB

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I am part of a small NGO whose IT Admin is currently ouf of reach. All our computers have Ubuntu installed and in our everyday work we rely heavily on gpg.

Here is the problem: While some people have updated their system already, Thunderbird has updated as well, proving to have implemented a complete new way of handling pgp messages and keys. People report it is not yet running smoothely and only with huge effort is it possible to regain control over gpg again. I would like to circumvent this.

My question: is there an easy terminal command to update all packages except thunderbird? From what I know, thunderbirds 68-Version is not critical, but other packages might undergo serious threats if remaining un-updated for some time.

I would highly appreciate an easy solution that our people (and other people who got this problem as well) might adopt.

PS: Havent't found another entry dealing with this problem / solution. Sorry if I overlooked it...

updates thunderbird gnupg enigmail

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Instead of an command to update all packages but thunderbird, you set thunderbird to not update, then update the usual way.

    You can say

    sudo apt-mark hold thunderbird

    That will prevent updates from being applied until you set it back to unhold

    Update your system as usual.

    Reference: https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/bionic/man8/apt-mark.8.html

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