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I am using 3.2.0-4-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 3.2.46-1 x86_64 GNU/Linux Debian GNU/Linux 7.1 (wheezy) Release: 7.1.

I typed "sudo apt-get upgrade" and hoped for the best (I updated all my packages just before doing that with "sudo ap-get update").

I am not aware ow any changes to grub I could have made although I am not owner of this machine, I just happen to have sudo permissions and use it.

Please, what should I do? I am afraid of breaking my system:(

 A new version of configuration file /etc/default/grub is available, but the version installed currently has been locally modified.                                                            
      │ What do you want to do about modified configuration file grub?                                  │
      │                                                                                                 │
      │                   install the package maintainer's version                                      │
      │                   keep the local version currently installed                                    │
      │                   show the differences between the versions                                     │
      │                   show a side-by-side difference between the versions                           │
      │                   show a 3-way difference between available versions                            │
      │                   do a 3-way merge between available versions (experimental)                    │
      │                   start a new shell to examine the situation                                    │

Here is the screen after "show the differences between the versions"

enter image description here

Perlnika
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    choose to `show the differences between the versions` and edit your question to add the output. (After choosing that you will get the same menu again to choose from) – aularon Feb 05 '14 at 19:21
  • It seems the new file removes setting related to serial terminals, nothing that you would usually deal with (unless you have a serial connection to a terminal). So you can continue to `install the package maintainer's version` without a worry. – aularon Feb 05 '14 at 19:42
  • Thanks. What if I chose to keep the local version? What's risk associated with that? – Perlnika Feb 05 '14 at 19:47
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    Nothing (in this case the change is really marginal and won't affect the system, as it appears from the lines changed in the diff view), but next time when you are going to upgrade, it will ask you again since you still don't have the maintainer version of the file. – aularon Feb 05 '14 at 19:52
  • I'm having the same issue with the samba configuration. That's what drop-in files are for AFAIK, but this service doesn't seem to support drop-in files, unfortunately. https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Systemd#Drop-in_files Kinda annoying. – WoodrowShigeru Aug 19 '23 at 16:36

2 Answers2

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To sum up:

  1. Use the show the differences between the versions to check what the differences are.

  2. From the diff view, you can recognize the changes you have made to the file (if any), and the differences between current file and the maintainer file.

  3. Now you need to merge the maintainer file with the local changes: either install the package maintainer's version and then edit to introduce your changes to the settings, or keep the local version currently installed and then edit to introduce the changes made by the package maintainer.

In your case you have no changes made to the file, and the differences are minor and irrelevant to your setup, so you can ignore and proceed with install the package maintainer's version without the need to edit the file any further.

aularon
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I encounter similar issues with Ubuntu 18.04, I select show a side-by-side difference between the versions. Careful observation reveals that nothing serious was changed at all, it all looks similar.

So I simply select install the package maintainer's version and everything works just fine.

Aminu Kano
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  • Maybe the file has been opened, (saved) and closed, resulting in differences between LF and CRLF – the newlines or linebreaks of the file. I sometimes encounter this phenomenon in PHPStorm. – WoodrowShigeru Aug 19 '23 at 16:25