1. A software-update management system comprising: an input for receiving a request for an update chronology for a target update; an interface for retrieving succession data from a set of databases, said databases having a record for each update, each record indicating all updates that the associated update directly supercedes; and an update chronology generator for generating an update chronology for said target update by accessing the records for said target update and each update indicated by the record for said target update as being directly superceded by said target update, said generator being coupled to said input and to said interface.