Linux updates were painfully slow until I switched one setting
Linux updates were painfully slow until I switched one setting
https://www.makeuseof.com/linux-updates-were-painfully-slow-until-i-switched-one-setting/
Publish Date: 2026-04-01 16:30:00
Source Domain: www.makeuseof.com
There’s a very specific kind of irritation (if anyone’s interested, I call it penguin-rage) that comes from watching a Linux update crawl. Not fail, not crash, or even complain. Just sit there, inching forward like it’s negotiating each package individually. My system wasn’t broken. The internet was solid. Streaming, downloads, Docker pulls, all fine. But the moment I ran apt update followed by apt upgrade. Everything slowed to a polite, almost passive-aggressive pace. Like Linux was saying, “We’ll get there … eventually.” And for the longest time, I just accepted it. Because updates are supposed to take time, right? Spoiler warning: No, they’re not.
The problem wasn’t my system
Slow updates were caused by a poor mirror choice
Credit: Roine Bertelson/MakeUseOf
Linux doesn’t download updates from one central server. It pulls from mirrors, which are copies of the same packages hosted all over the world. In theory, this is great. Redundancy, speed, resilience. Very clever. In practice, your system quietly picks one and hopes for the best.
Sometimes you get lucky and land on a fast, local mirror that feels instant. Other times, you end up stuck with something halfway across the planet that’s either overloaded, underpowered, or just having a bad day. And your system will happily keep using it forever, like it’s in a long-term relationship. That’s what happened to…
