They make breaking changes to settings (and possibly data stores, but I forget) between versions, so to go from, for example, x.y.1 to x.z.5 might involve doing migrations between x.y.2 through x.z.5 just to use the latest version.

This is not the case for all versions, but I've found it to be common enough that I have to read all of the release notes between point versions when upgrading.

It can definitely be improved.

There is a new section in the documentation discussing upgrades:

https://stalw.art/docs/install/upgrade/

The goal is to stabilize the database layout/configuration format very soon so v1.0.0 can be released (hopefully before Q1/Q2 2026).

yes, but that’s not as simple as apt automatic upgrades

want me to write the script out for you?

1. systemd timer

2. curl github api

3. if new release, fetch, verify checksum

4. update symlink

5. restart service

i don’t think repackaging is actually easier here, for main services of a system is ok to skip the package manager.

You will eventually break your email setup by doing this, see my other comment.