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Supercharge your software upgrade routine
Top of the Line
Ever since the last millennium, the most common methods of deploying applications revolved around compiling from source or dealing with each respective distributions' package manager. Terminal front ends then helped with the wider adoption of Linux by making software manipulation much easier for a range of users. Next, AppImage, Flatpak, and Snap stepped in, with literally no pause between their appearance and endorsement by mainstream distributions.
Don't forget about self-updating third-party libraries from standalone processes or about all the various firmware incarnations that exist! Even though it's always possible to automate these processes (e.g., with anacron), in reality, ain't nobody got time for that.
Your security posture begins by religiously applying software patches; however, keeping an upper hand over the update and upgrade process on your stable of applications, not to mention the many attack vectors this portability brings, can be a hair-pulling task. Thankfully, Topgrade comes to the rescue when it comes to running the latest and greatest.
Topgrade
In 2018 the Topgrade project debuted on GitHub [1], and before long it formed a very vibrant and active community. The topgrade tool is the terminal front end of all terminal front ends, englobing all of the terminal installation wizards you can imagine. Sadly, development came to a screeching halt in 2022. With an astonishing 220+ contributors having already pitched in to make this tool great, it was clear that it would leave a gigantic void, so somebody had to take over its life cycle and ensure that it would carry on its legacy of greatness.
Shortly after the announcement of Topgrade's demise, the mini-juggernaut was forked, and its development indeed continued under a different leadership. Behold: topgrade-rs
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