when is etch safe to access internet?

[Douglas Tutty <dtutty@porchlight.ca>]

Hi,

Two interrelated questions:

Short question:  when can my Etch amd64 box access the net via dialup
safely?  At one point recently in relation to Etch (pre RC1), there was
mention somewhre (perhaps the relase notes of the time) [sorry for my
spottty memory]  that a testing box should not be connected directly to
the internet.  I can't find that anymore.  Right now I'm connected via
an old 486 with a failing NIC.  Now that Etch is frozen, is it safe to
connect directly with the modem?  

Long question:  How is security and etch transition from testing to
stable handled?  The release and security pages say that the testing
distribution does not get security updates.  Does this mean that Etch
must wait to be 'stable' before security is addressed or is it just a
hand-off from the individual maintainers to the security team?  This
could suggest that there will be some security holes between the time it
is released and when security updates are produced.   

I guess everyone is getting itchy for etch (etchy?).  


Thanks,

Doug.