<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<page xmlns="http://projectmallard.org/1.0/" xmlns:its="http://www.w3.org/2005/11/its" type="topic" style="task" id="policy">

  <info>
    <link type="guide" xref="index#levels"/>

    <credit type="author">
      <name>Linux Mint</name>
      <email>root@linuxmint.com</email>
    </credit>

    <include xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" href="legal.xml"/>

    <desc>Choosing an update policy</desc>
  </info>

  <title>Update policy</title>

    <p>The update manager is highly configurable. You can go in the preferences and fine-tune which levels you want to show and which levels you want to preselect. This is your computer and so you can tune it the way you want.</p>

    <p>The first time you launch it, it will try to understand who you are and set these settings for you. To do so, it will show you three update policies and ask you to choose the one you like best.</p>

    <p>All policies have this in common:</p>

    <list>
      <item><p>For security reasons, security updates are always visible (no matter what level they are).</p></item>
      <item><p>For security reasons, kernel updates (which are level 4) are always visible.</p></item>
      <item><p>For stability reasons, level 5 updates are always hidden.</p></item>
    </list>

    <note><p>When you choose an update policy, some of the preferences are changed in the Update Manager. You can tune these preferences individually by clicking on the Edit-&gt;Preferences menu in the menubar.</p></note>

    <section id="policy1">

      <title>Novice users</title>

      <p>The first policy is made for novice users in mind. It assumes these users are unable to work around critical issues affecting sensitive parts of their system and tries to minimize their risk to suffer critical regressions.</p>

      <p>Bug fixes are optional, so this policy focuses on safe updates (level 1 and 2) with minimal impact on the operating system. These updates are visible and preselected by default.</p>

      <p>Security is also important but some security updates (and kernel updates in particular) affect sensitive parts of the system. These updates are visible and novice users are recommended to select them and apply them with caution, in isolation and ideally either with the help of an experienced user, or after they familiarized themselves with the forums and chat channel so they know how to seek help.</p>

    </section>

    <section id="policy2">

      <title>Regular users</title>

      <p>The second policy is made for the vast majority of people. It assumes these users aren't new to Linux and either know how to solve common problems, or they know where to find help.</p>

      <p>This policy shows all recommended updates. Security updates and safe bug-fix updates (level 1 and 2) are preselected by default.</p>

      <p>Users are recommended to select and apply level 3 and level 4 updates with caution and in isolation and to seek help if something goes wrong.</p>

    </section>

    <section id="policy3">

      <title>Advanced users</title>

      <p>This policy is made for advanced users on computers where the risk of critical regressions is acceptable. It assumes these users are able to fix any issue and want to apply all updates all at once.</p>

      <p>In this policy, all recommended updates are visible and selected by default.</p>

    </section>

</page>
