>> How can I stop those downloads?
>>
>> Currently, I did
>>
>> systemctl mask packagekit
>
> Well, you might just get rid of the package.
>
> apt purge packagekit
>
> should do it.
Of course, but that also gets rid of packages I do want to keep (such as
the `gnome` metapackage).
> To prevent it from starting on the next boot:
>
> systemctl disable packagekit
>
> You may have to unmask it first.
This doesn't work:
# systemctl disable packagekit
The unit files have no installation config (WantedBy=, RequiredBy=,
UpheldBy=,
Also=, or Alias= settings in the [Install] section, and DefaultInstance= for
template units). This means they are not meant to be enabled or disabled
using systemctl.
Possible reasons for having these kinds of units are:
• A unit may be statically enabled by being symlinked from another unit's
.wants/, .requires/, or .upholds/ directory.
• A unit's purpose may be to act as a helper for some other unit which has
a requirement dependency on it.
• A unit may be started when needed via activation (socket, path, timer,
D-Bus, udev, scripted systemctl call, ...).
• In case of template units, the unit is meant to be enabled with some
instance name specified.
#
which is why I masked it instead. In any case, I'd rather find a way to
say precisely what I mean (i.e. "don't download updates in the
background") than to have to chase down the daemon of the day used to
perform those automatic downloads (I remember going through the same
charade a few years back, before `packagekit` existed).
Especially since I don't know what else `packagekit` might be doing
(some of it might be things I do appreciate). Also, maybe the downloads
are not initiated by `packagekit` but by some other system (which just
happens to delegate the task to `packagekit`), and that other system may
end up deciding to do the same downloads some other way if `packagekit`
isn't available.
Stefan
