A universal, distro‑neutral update visibility tool for Debian/Ubuntu/Mint systems.
Most Linux update tools — especially Linux Mint’s Update Manager — show only a curated subset of available updates. They hide or collapse:
- phased updates
- dependency updates
- library siblings
- transitional packages
- Ubuntu Pro client updates
- Flatpak runtimes and SDKs
- non‑Mint‑maintained packages
- packages that appear “upgradable” but are not installed locally
Update Analyzer exposes the complete, unfiltered truth of your system’s update state. It reads the system directly — no logs, no assumptions, no filtering. This is the update visibility Linux desktops should have had all along.
Shows all upgradable packages, including:
- libraries
- transitional packages
- minimal/t64 variants
- dependency‑driven updates
- runtime siblings
- packages Mint Update Manager hides
No filtering. No guessing. No UI curation.
-
🟢 Green — Eligible update
Your machine is inside the rollout percentage, or the update is not phased. -
🟡 Yellow — Phased update (not yet eligible)
The update exists, but your machine is outside the rollout percentage. Mint Update Manager hides these entirely. -
🔴 Red — Package NOT installed locally
(APT reports an update for a package that is not installed.) This happens with transitional packages, optional components, or leftover metadata.The analyzer exposes these so you see the real APT state.
Flatpak is now a major part of the Linux desktop. The analyzer includes:
- app updates
- runtime updates
- SDK updates
- extension updates
Mint Update Manager shows only selective Flatpak updates. The analyzer shows all of them.
The analyzer detects packages installed manually via .deb files (outside APT).
These packages:
- are not tracked by APT
- do not receive version or security metadata
- cannot be evaluated for updates
The analyzer marks them with a neutral grey “?” icon and displays “N/A” for update fields. This makes their status explicit instead of silently ignoring them.
Works on any Debian‑based system:
- Linux Mint
- Ubuntu
- Debian
- Pop!_OS
- KDE Neon
- Zorin
- Elementary
- Linux Lite
- Raspberry Pi OS
- Anything APT‑based
No Mint‑specific logic. No assumptions. Just APT + Flatpak truth.
Prebuilt Linux bundles are provided on the Releases page.
-
Download the latest
update-analyzer-linux-x64-<version>.zip. -
Extract it:
unzip update-analyzer-linux-x64-.zip cd bundle
-
Run the analyzer:
./update_analyzer
Alternatively, you may also double‑click the update_analyzer executable in your file manager to run the application. This works because the file manager automatically sets the working directory to the bundle folder.
Linux Mint’s Update Manager tries to mimic the simplicity of Windows Update. But Linux is a package‑centric, transparent, decentralized ecosystem. Hiding updates creates confusion — especially with phased rollouts and Flatpak runtimes. Update Analyzer restores:
- accuracy
- visibility
- control
- trust
It shows the system as it actually is, not as a curated UI wants it to appear.
Contributions are welcome. Although this release ships only the shell‑script analyzer, the project itself is built in Flutter. If you are interested in the source, please contact the author through GitHub. Bug reports and feature suggestions are appreciated.
MIT License.