UPDATE-DEFAULT-ISPELL(8)

💖 UPDATE-DEFAULT-ISPELL 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because we're talking about update-default-ispell(8) — yes it's a section 8 page, yes it's about updating the default ispell dictionary, and yes it is lowkey doing way more than the name lets on. sit with me. 🫶

---

✨ NAME ✨

update-default-ispell — update default ispell dictionary. that's it, that's the whole vibe. 🎀

---

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

update-default-ispell [--skip-symlinks] [--triggered]

---

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

WARNING: Not to be used from the command line unless you know very well what you are doing. like, fr fr. this is not a "just poke at it and see" situation, bestie. 💀

This program is intended to be called from the ispell dictionary package postinst, from select-default-ispell, or from the dictionaries-common postinst. it's a backstage queen, not a front-of-house performer. 👑

When it's called under dpkg control with the --trigger option, the script is run normally. otherwise, the dictionaries-common update-default-ispell trigger gets enabled for a later run. so it either does the thing or it books the thing in for later, no in-between. ✨

With the --skip-symlinks option, the symlinks setting is skipped. this is needed for update-default-ispell when it's called from the dictionaries-common postinst, since autobuilt hashes may not yet be available. (translation: the symlink moment has to wait its turn, the hashes aren't ready yet 😭)

When run normally — from the command line, or with --trigger — this script rebuilds the info at /var/cache/dictionaries-common/ispell.db after the files under /var/lib/dictionaries-common/ispell, reads the system default from the debconf database, and unless it's disabled, sets the default symlinks in /etc/dictionaries-common pointing to the appropriate files in /usr/lib/ispell/. so many little jobs. she's booked and busy. 💅

For ispell, this script also updates the system-wide setting /etc/dictionaries-common/ispell-default and the emacsen, jed, and SquirrelMail support after known info. ate. 🔥

---

💜 OPTIONS 💜

• --skip-symlinks — Do not try to set symlinks at the /etc/dictionaries-common dir. skipping the symlink step, respectfully. 🙈
• --triggered — Run all the code instead of trying to enable the update-default-ispell trigger. like, do it now, don't schedule it. ⭐

---

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

The dictionaries-common policy document. go read it, it's giving lore. 📖✨

---

👑 AUTHORS 👑

Rafael Laboissiere, Agustin Martin Domingo. absolute icons, we stan. 🫶

---

and that's the whole page, bestie 💖 this was version 1.31.4, dated 2026-3-22, and it's the UPDATE-DEFAULT-ISPELL(8) manual — no cap, go forth and don't run it from the command line unless you very well know what you're doing. mwah 💅