Re: smooth upgrades
On Tuesday 19 December 2006 13:51, Andrew Sackville-West wrote:
> On Tue, Dec 19, 2006 at 11:33:10AM -0800, tom arnall wrote:
> > On Monday 18 December 2006 11:10, Andrew Sackville-West wrote:
> > > largely. Are you currently pointed at testing or at etch? If at
> > > testing, you might want to change to etch so you don't get caught out.
> > >
> > > my one etch server has really calmed down on the upgrades in the last
> > > couple weeks. Of course, there's not much on there (mail, imap,
> > > various shares, clamav and a couple others...).
> >
> > Thanks for getting back to me. By 'pointed at Etch', do you mean get rid
> > of the 'testing' addresses and have only 'stable' in 'sources.list'? Hate
> > being a nervous nelly, but it means a lot to me to get a solid os on my
> > machine. I want to be able to promote linux among my friends, but can do
> > this only if I can easily support them.
>
> I suggest you change your source.list to 'etch' which is currently
> synonymous with 'testing'. That way you'll follow etch into
> stable. after 'etch' has migrated to stable, you could change your
> sources.list to point to 'stable' so that you don't follow 'etch' into
> 'oldstable'. I would make that change from 'testing' to 'etch' right
> away so you don't accidently get caught in the beowulf-cluster-fsck
> that will happen in 'testing' after 'etch' moves into stable. Making
> that change right now will NOT affect the system as 'etch' and
> 'testing' are the same thing at this moment.
>
> warning! train platform analogy! warning!
>
> okay, here's how I view the releases. Debian is like a set of
> trains. There are a limited number of platforms for getting on the
> trains. Each platform has a name and they are 'experimental',
> 'unstable', 'testing', 'stable' and 'oldstable' (are there any
> more?). Each train has a name too, though the train doesn't get named
> until its on the track between the unstable and testing
> platforms. currently, there are four named trains: 'woody', which is
> parked at the 'oldstable' platform, 'sarge' which is parked at the
> 'stable' platform, and 'etch' which is parked at the 'testing'
> platform. The fourth one, 'sid' is a special case -- its a train that
> is still being assembled at the 'unstable' platform and is rolled
> piece-meal down the track, added to whatever train is sitting at the
> 'testing' platform, currently 'etch'. So 'etch' is at the 'testing'
> platform getting the final touches put on it before it moves down the
> line to the 'stable' platform pushing 'sarge' and 'woody' down the
> line. unfortunately for 'woody', the line ends just on the other side
> of the 'oldstable' platform and the poor guy will get mothballed and
> left on a siding.
>
> Okay. there are two basic ways to use the debian train. 1) buy a
> ticket for a particular train. you can buy tickets for any of the
> named trains, 'etch', 'sarge', 'woody', etc. When you buy this ticket,
> you board the train and use its tools at whatever platform it is
> currently parked at and you'll ride that train right on down to the
> end of the line. unless you change your ticket (there is no service
> charge for this). 2) rent a seat at one of the platforms 'unstable',
> 'testing', 'stable' etc. you can rent
> a seat at any platform and make use of whatever tools are on the train you
> want while that train is parked at that platform. However, when the
> train moves on to the next platform, you are left behind at the
> station, and have to use the tools from the next train coming down the
> line. Again, you can change your tickets at any time for no fee.
>
> The only caveat to ticket changing is that the train is running up a
> VERY steep hill from 'experimental' to 'oldstable'. In order to get
> from one of the lower platforms like 'unstable' or 'testing' to one of
> the higher platforms like 'stable' or 'oldstable', you have to either
> do a LOT of climbing (this is called downgrading. don't know why as
> its an uphill climb ;-P ) or you have to change to a train ticket and
> catch a ride up there. Realise of course, that the tools available at
> the next train station will then be the same ones as you currently
> use, because you're riding on the train with that set of tools.
>
> warning! application of train analogy! warning!
>
> okay, so you're currently renting a seat at the testing station and
> using the tools on that train, which is called etch. however, you know
> that this train, etch, is about to pull out of the station. If you like
> the tools on this train, you better hop on it now before it pulls out
> of the station. Otherwise, you'll have to use the tools on the next
> train, called 'lenny', but those tools are still being refined as they
> pull into the station. You'll have to do some hacking while it all
> gets organized and polished up.
>
> end of train analogy. thank you for participating and have a great trip.
>
> phew.
>
> sorry everyone.
>
> hth
>
> A
and until 'etch' becomes 'stable', do i get rid of the ref's to 'stable' in
sources.list once i've replaced 'testing' with 'etch'? or have the ref's
to 'stable' been ignored all along, beginning at the point where i put the
ref's to 'testing' in sources.list?
tom
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