It just updated by itself to 5.0.1 without even asking.
I ran the tor-browser-updater after that which still showed the current version as 5.0 and offered to download 5.0.1
Since before we were updating it manually with the updater tool and now it updates by itself I just want to make it clear for me and everyone else what is the recommended way of doing it form now on?
The Tor Project configured Tor Browser since version 5.0 to update itself. So this is expected.
Tor Browser Updater (Whonix) does not yet notice upgrades done by the internal updater. This will be fixed in Whonix 12.
Updating using Tor Browser internal updater is okay.
Just now updated the documentation:
Let’s answer the OP’s question. Are auto updates a problem?
yes.
The problem with auto updates is that if the update is broken. Tor (as well as many others) have released updates that break things in unexpected ways. Personally, I never update right away for this reason. I like to let other people be the test subjects and see what happens.
Personally, I went right into Tor and turned auto updates off. Which, of course, is itself a problem because it can be tracked.
Before Patrick removes the update check feature in Whonix I’d suggest he go back and read his own warning message and consider anew why that warning message is there. There is an excellent reason why the warning messages says that if there are multiple versions of Tor to be updated too it’s best to pick the lowest version on the list–it’s likely to be the most stable.
I’m not happy that Tor has chosen to go down this road. I think it is a mistake. But there it is.