@matt: Let's break it down to pieces:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y upgrade && sudo apt-get -y dist-upgrade && sudo apt-get -y autoremove
- sudo apt-get update
- sudo apt-get -y upgrade
- sudo apt-get -y dist-upgrade
- sudo apt-get -y autoremove
You can read on what each command does in the manual:
http://linux.die.net/man/8/apt-get
update
Used to re-synchronize the package index files from their sources. The indexes of available packages are fetched from the location(s) specified in /etc/apt/sources.list(5). An update should always be performed before an upgrade or dist-upgrade.
upgrade
Used to install the newest versions of all packages currently installed on the system from the sources enumerated in /etc/apt/sources.list(5). Packages currently installed with new versions available are retrieved and upgraded; under no circumstances are currently installed packages removed, nor are packages that are not already installed retrieved and installed. New versions of currently installed packages that cannot be upgraded without changing the install status of another package will be left at their current version. An update must be performed first so that apt-get knows that new versions of packages are available.
dist-upgrade
In addition to performing the function of upgrade, this option also intelligently handles changing dependencies with new versions of packages; apt-get has a "smart" conflict resolution system, and it will attempt to upgrade the most important packages at the expense of less important ones, if necessary.
The /etc/apt/sources.list(5) file contains a list of locations from
which to retrieve desired package files. See also apt_preferences(5) for a mechanism for over-riding the general settings for individual packages.
autoremove
autoremove is used to remove packages that were automatically installed to satisfy dependencies for other packages and are now no longer needed.
