Non-security updates between stable releases?
Hi,
I must say I hope no one takes this the wrong way or flames me because of it - I really appreciate what Debian has done, and I think you have the most stable, logically laid out, and free (as in freedom) Linux distribution out there.
That said, there is a significant issue that I see with Debian and most distributions in general that I wanted to bring up. The issue is that once a stable release is declared stable, that's it - there are no updates except for security holes. This is good, except when you need a feature included in a newer version of software included in Debian (for example, if a newer kernel has a non-security bugfix in it that you need). Yes, you can compile from source (or, in some cases, use unofficial packages) but that is far from ideal.
What I am wondering is - has there been any effort and/or interest in working on this area? I know about debian-volitaile, but that seems oriented towards a very specific set of packages (like antivirus programs), and not, for example, bugfixes. Furthermore, has there been any interest in working on such a project? If there is some interest, I would be interested in helping with the effort (though IANADD). I do vaguely remember this being mentioned at some time somewhere by a Debian developer at some point in time, so I figured I'd bring it up.
In my mind, many of the complaints that "Debian doesn't release often enough" could be mitigated this way, and it would be nice to see at some point.
Once again, thanks for making Debian what it is - I'm amazed by the 21,000+ packages, the beauty of apt, and the fact that it's a completely volunteer effort. Keep it up.
Tim
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