I installed Vysor with its command and I remember that here in Zorin Forum has sometimes been told to remove the new repository that has been added right after the software installation to prevent OS breakages on further updates or upgrades. Is this a rule in all cases or just for some software? And if for some, how do we determine which ones? In this case no warning is shown in Vysor pages so I'd assume it's safe to keep it, otherwise they made a very serious mistake.
It's not a hard rule, and will vary case by case, but when you add a repository and leave it, you're effectively opting in to any changes made to that software. If they mess up and change a dependency somehow, that could cause problems. It all comes down to how much you trust that project and their developers. I keep the Firefox and ProtonVPN repositories to get their updates as quickly as possible, because I trust both of them, and want frequent security updates. I might remove the repository for OBS though, because I don't need updates very frequently for that.
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I have only ever recommended this when instructing a user to install the Repository of another distro in order to install some of their homebrewed software.
Examples would include Mints Nemo FM or POP_OS's Popsicle.
Since a distro repo will contain specific packages for their version release, this can conflict with Zorin OS's version release; so if you run your System Upgrader, it can cause problems with your Zorin System Software, not the specific software you went to that repository to get.
But for regular software repos that deal only with that software, you should keep the repository in order to stay up to date with any upgrades, patches or fixes that software needs.
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Is then removing the repository of another distro always necessary for safety or there can be cases in which it's not? Locklear93 explained that changes made to dependencies is the problem, but what if the new repository doesn't make any changes to dependencies?
I would recommend always removing another distros repository after using it to install a piece of software on a different distro. Yes, there can be cases where it is not really risky, but it is very difficult to keep track of when it would be and when it isn't.
Let's say we are comparing the repos of Zorin OS and Mint, prior to Mint having sped up their release schedule. With both holding to the same LTS Ubuntu base, the risk to System files would have been much less, though there would be some risk of changes made in-house on some software packages on either distro.
But Mint did decrease the wait time between releases and stepped ahead, allowing Mint to reach into different sources than Zorin OS.
So to stay in the clear; If you ever use another distros repository to install software that they offer, remove it when finished installing the software and do not run the system upgrades during the time that the repo is present in your sources.
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