kev wrote:

> does this compare with gentoo?

> does the 'emerge sync' command also bring
> in security patches?
emerge sync just synchronises the portage.

"emerge --update system" is what you ask. it updates all system related
packages to the next stable version, if there is such. this might be a new
version for security reasons, or just new features.
there also is "emerge --update world", wich will look for updates in system
*and* stuff like KDE, etc..

i regulary check "emerge --update --pretend world" too see whats new and if
i need it.