Re: How i do upgrade my operating system to Debian “buster”?
On Sun, Jan 10, 2021 at 05:27:26AM -0800, Weaver wrote:
> On 10-01-2021 22:44, Peter Ehlert wrote:
> > On 1/9/21 5:04 PM, John Hasler wrote:
> >> Carl Fink writes:
> >>> I'm repeating the recommendation I've seen on this very list for
> >>> decades.
> >> It is an incorrect recommendation. Upgrading works well and is
> >> supported and recommended by Debian.
> >
> > sometimes, but not always. I prefer Reinstall, it's painless
> >
> > https://wiki.debian.org/DebianUpgrade
> >
> > "Performing a release upgrade is not without risk. The upgrade may
> > fail, leaving the system in a non-functioning state. USERS SHOULD
> > BACKUP ALL DATA before attempting a release upgrade"
>
> Crossing the road is not without risk.
> Reinstalling, is not without risk.
> Neither is an upgrade.
> In any case, there are protocols to observe and, that done, there's
> little to fear.
> I haven't had trouble for years.
> update
> safe-upgrade
> Edit /etc/apt/sources.list
> update
> full-upgrade
> And you're home and hosed.
>
> Unless you're running a server, it's a good idea to be running SID, and
> then you don't have to worry about it anyway.
> Cheers!
> Harry.
> --
> `We'll know our disinformation program is complete when
> everything the American public believes is false'.
> -- William Casey, CIA Director (first staff meeting, 1981)
>
I'm sorry, but I'll respectfully disagree with the last suggestion:
Sid is Debian unstable (and Sid as the Toy Story-derived distribution codename
is named for the child next door who breaks toys)
The difference between unstable / testing / stable comes down to rate of
change and consequent instability.
Sid changes daily - there may be times when significant amounts of packages
are broken / uninstallable together - especially when there's an upgrade to
one of the major desktop environments or something in the compilation chain
which affects all packages (perhaps a change in compiler / OpenSSL settings).
If you are very experienced in Debian breakage / can afford to wait until
someone uploads fixes / it's a secondary machine that you are not absolutely
dependent on - fine.
Testing is the next step down towards stable. It still changes daily, but at a
slower rate. There's no routine security patching. Transitions may still mean
that large numbers of packages are uninstallable today. One a freeze kicks in and testing is being frozen to become the next stable,
that's a lot easier.
Stable is pretty much unconditionally stable. There are regular changes for
security fixes: once in a while a packge may have to be removed from Debian
entirely because it becomes unsupportable. You can, at your choice, follow
from stable to oldstable to oldoldstable as the distribution moves through various LTS stages. LTS is supported by volunteers and (potentially) paid
for support from Freexian.
Stable is a good choice day to day, it's regularly updated with security fixes.
Point releases occur every three months or so wrapping up fixes in the last
quarter.
Routinely recommending sid may be counterproductive for relatively
inexperienced users. Similarly, you may have to fix problems if you routinely
use large quantities of -backports software. Stability vs pace and brand new
software is a neverending battle
Just my opinion - as ever, your experience may well vary.
All the very best, as ever,
Andy C
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