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0e1f616
(Get the code!)
Alberto, to me, I thought this was a simple issue that could possibly have been fixed in the user interface. I thought that this was code that was created particularly for ubuntu, and therefore the excuses espoused in the top critical bug in the hundredpapercuts project didn't apply. I thought that having a significant usability issue in the update-manager would qualify as a "paper cut", but according to post #28, since it's simply a "bug" it apparently didn't qualify. I thought that this was a simple bug that could/should have been fixed in 2009, but now that it's 2013, I'm wondering if there's anyone at the wheel, let alone asleep at it.
In my little brain, it seems like the "check" button does roughly a "sudo apt-get update" and the "install" button should do a "sudo apt-get dist-upgrade". But something is wrong with the install button code. Since sudo has the property that the password only gets asked for every 15 minutes or so, it could be that pressing the "check" button makes install work simply because it's doing the "sudo". It also could be that the "apt-get update" part somehow greases the skids and makes the "install" button work, but I personally think it's more likely a privilege escalation issue. It doesn't make sense to me that without the "apt-get update" that the "install" should do nothing even when there are updates displayed in the window. That the "check" button may or may not bring up additional updates seems irrelevant.
If you take Alberto's example, and instead of trying "sudo apt-get update" you try "sudo apt-get dist-install" I think you'll find that the dist-install proceeds as expected. You might also try "sudo uptime" to see if it also fixes the install button. You might also try pressing the "check" button and waiting an hour to see if the "install" button now fails.
...and if we're talking about usability here, the fact that there's an "check" button at all is kind of stupid - the app should be checking periodically for additional updates just so the list of updates isn't out of date - after all, that's the purpose of the window anyway - to alert the user of updates to the system. ...but that would be an "enhancement" request that will be addressed at even lower priority...not to mention that it might break the workaround for this bug that we've been using for four years. ;-)