How can I use apt instead of pkcon in KDE neon?

Question

When I run apt upgrade I get the following message from KDE neon:

On KDE neon you should use `pkcon update` to install updates.
If you absolutely must use apt you do have to use dist-upgrade or full-upgrade in place of the upgrade command. [...]
Abort.

So the point is the abort.

Whatever KDE neon likes, I'd still like to use apt. Is there any way to still use it without a full-upgrade?

KDE: 4:5.15.5-0xneon+18.04+bionic+build48

Solution

KDE neon's FAQ page has this:

KDE neon does continuous deployment of the latest KDE software which means there are nearly always new versions of our software to update to. We recommend using Plasma Discover's updater which appears in your panel:

If you prefer to use the command line you can use the pkcon command:

pkcon refresh
pkcon update

This will install all new packages and uses the same PackageKit code as Plasma Discover. Some uses of apt do not install new packages which makes it less suitable for KDE neon.

It seems, based on the last sentence in the quoted material, the KDE neon developers believe that apt upgrade isn't suitable. To ensure users don't go that route, the KDE neon developers have somehow disabled apt upgrade. As suggested by the terminal output, you need to use apt full-upgrade or apt-get dist-upgrade if you don't want to use pkcon or Discover.

This is still the case after today's update to Plasma 5.16.

If the use of apt upgrade instead of apt full-upgrade is important to you, you can

• file a bug which will probably be closed with a WONTFIX or
• use another distribution such as Kubuntu 19.04 (with the Kubuntu backports ppa) which, more or less, keeps pace with KDE neon's Plasma updates but allows apt upgrade.

I, personally, have no issue with using apt full-upgrade.

Comments

[feoh]

The problem is that when I want to install third party software that's not in the KDE Discover store, I often must use apt because the installation instructions (For Elements Matrix client for example, or Celestia) tell you to add a new entry into /etc/apt/sources.list.d and then apt install. Is there some way to do this with pkcon? It seems to me that that command only installs software in Discover.

[w0rp]

You can add new repositories with apt-add-repository, or by editing files yourself, and they will be installed with pkcon too. PackageKit uses apt as the backend in KDE Neon, so it gives you everything apt is doing plus more.

[Caveman]

I'm running 5.20 and every now and then pkcon hangs on the Running [=== ] step. apt full-upgrade does the trick though.

[w0rp]

Software is buggy.

[Raven]

@Caveman I have the same issue. Here's a bug report that I filed against KDE: bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=436390

[Kusalananda]

Welcome to Unix & Linux! Brevity is acceptable, but fuller explanations are better.