Community Linux distributions are easygoing with updates and patches. Yes, they'd like you to update, but they don't insist on it. Now, though, the popular Linux Mint[1] distribution has had enough of people running out-of-date distributions and programs. In the future, Mint's Update Manager may "insist" you make important security updates[2].
This all started because Mint's maintainers found many Mint users were not keeping their software up-to-date[3]. Mint researchers found less than a third of its users updated their web browser within a week of a new version's release, and as many as 30% of users may still be still running Linux Mint 17.x.[4] That specific distribution hasn't been supported since April 2019. This, in turn, meant they haven't received security updates for close to two years.
Yes, Linux tends to be more secure than other operating systems, but that doesn't mean there have been no serious security bugs. For example, a decade-old sudo bug has recently been patched[5], and the ancient -- but always troublesome -- memory addressing tool set_fs() was finally removed[6]. As lead Mint maintainer Clement "Clem" Lefebvre wrote, you must update not just because an outdated system is vulnerable, "it is known to be vulnerable."
Besides, Update Manager doesn't just patch Linux bugs, it also updates and patches all software on your Linux system. So, for example, when you update Linux Mint, you're also updating the default Firefox web browser.
It's not like it's hard to do either. Clem said: "Linux Mint comes with one of the best update managers available. It's very easy to use, it's configurable, and it shows a lot of information." He's right. "All you need to do is use it."
Unfortunately, even after warning