Re: [OT] suites (was Re: re evolution)

[hendrik@topoi.pooq.com]

On Tue, Apr 04, 2006 at 05:04:17PM +0100, Nikolay Kichukov wrote:
> thanks for the explaining.
> 
> cite: "bugs in testing happen, but what more can you
> do than make them available in "unstable" beforehand?"

I dist-upgraded one of my boxes from to etch shortly after xorg arrived 
in etch.  After that I just updated it.  It took weeks before all the 
packages were properly installed and running.  There were quite a few 
broken dependencies, but after a while, they got fixed, and groups of 
packages that had previously been blocked got installed.  I use 
aptitude.  It often keeps old packages around until it can upgrade 
them properly.  But you have to watch the lists of packages it proposes 
to uninstall -- it may have no idea that you really are interested in 
keeping a package that it considers just an unnecessary roadblock.  When 
this happens, I request that package explicitly.  If it really doesn't 
like it, I back out of the entire proposed upgrade by pressing control-U 
several times.  Usually thing work out in a few days or weeks.

You have a little control over things, and I've never done a routine 
upgrade and ended with a nonworking system.

Big contrast with Windows, where you don't *dare* use the so-called 
security upgrades without risking a nonworking system, or at least, the 
installation of DRM sofware.

> 
> So you are saying that there is nothing left to be
> done than check what bugs are left over in unstable
> before dist-upgrading a testing release? i.e. When I
> am dist-upgrading testing, i believe that slight bugs
> may be available, but no major ones should be there. A
> major bug I consider is, in this case, evolution (in
> testing) totally not working, not even being able to
> fully load at start.

When I do a dist-upgrade from, say, sarge to etch, I make a complete 
copy of my old system on a different partition, and check that I can 
boot and use both systems indifferently.  Then I upgrade one of them.
If things go wrong, I can use the old system until they finally go 
right.

Can't do this with Windows, which always insists on the same partition.

-- hendrik