UPDATE-DEFAULT-WORDLIST(8)

📦
version 1.31.4 · 5 versions
, in ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 update-default-wordlist(8) — the manual page, but make it a group chat 💖

okay bestie, welcome to update-default-wordlist, the 8-section manual page, and yes she's a system admin baddie. sit down, grab a boba, we're doing this 🧋✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

update-default-wordlist — literally just update the default wordlist, that's it, that's the whole job 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

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

look at her, she's so compact 🎀

👑 DESCRIPTION 👑

🚨 WARNING: do not run this from the command line unless you very well know what you're doing. fr fr. like, this is not a "just vibe and see what happens" situation. 💀

so who is allowed to call her? this program is meant to be called from:

  • the wordlist package postinst,
  • select-default-wordlist, or
  • the dictionaries-common postinst.

that's the guest list, and it's invite-only 🫶

now the actual behavior, buckle up:

when she's called under dpkg control with the --trigger option, the script runs normally. otherwise? the dictionaries-common update-default-wordlist trigger gets enabled for a later run instead. she's patient like that ⏳

with the --skip-symlinks option, the symlinks setting is skipped. not today, symlinks 🙈

when she runs normally (from the command line, or with --trigger), here's the whole glow-up routine:

  • she rebuilds the info at /var/cache/dictionaries-common/wordlist.db after files under /var/lib/dictionaries-common/wordlist,
  • she reads the system default from the debconf database, and
  • unless it's disabled, she sets default symlinks in /etc/dictionaries-common pointing to the appropriate files in /usr/share/dict/.

that's the whole itinerary, no cap 🌈

💅 OPTIONS 💅

  • --skip-symlinks — do not try to set symlinks at the /etc/dictionaries-common dir. she's respecting the boundary, iconic 🎀
  • --triggered — run all the code instead of trying to enable the update-default-wordlist trigger. full send mode 🔥

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

the dictionaries-common policy document 📜 — go read it, it's giving required reading, iykyk

⭐ AUTHORS ⭐

Rafael Laboissiere, Agustin Martin Domingo 👑👑 absolute legends, we stan

and that's the whole page, bestie!! this was version 1.31.4, dated 2026-3-22, and it's an UPDATE-DEFAULT-WORDLIST(8) situation through and through 🌸💖✨ periodt 🫶

📦 where this page comes from