Re: Debian very slow to get latest releases?
On Wed, Dec 09, 1998 at 08:42:24PM +0000, Phillip Deackes wrote:
> I used to use RedHat and when any software was updated it appeared on
> the redhat ftp sites very quickly. I notice that already there are rpms
> of the new XFree release (3.3.3) available.
It's in the way Debian works. We have at most three releases at a time --
stable, frozen, and unstable.
A particular version begins life as unstable. It's not necessarily
unstable, but we call it that. After some time, there's a code freeze,
so it becomes frozen. A new unstable is created, for the next version.
After serious bugs are fixed in the frozen version, it becomes stable.
frozen only exists when a new release is pending.
Right now, we have unstable (called potato), frozen (called slink),
and stable (called hamm). If you want continuous upgrades, follow
unstable -- apt can do it for you easily. You might get some broken
packages at times. If you want a stable system, go with stable.
Once a version is released, it doesn't changed. So even though there's
a new X, it goes into unstable, not stable. The only changes to
the stable version are security fixes and the like.
Right now, we have a frozen version, so people are working on that.
That's why XFree86 3.3.3 isn't available yet. Once slink is released
(becomes stable), it will appear at some time.
Hamish
--
Hamish Moffatt VK3TYD hamish@debian.org, hamish@rising.com.au
Latest Debian packages at ftp://ftp.rising.com.au/pub/hamish. PGP#EFA6B9D5
CCs of replies from mailing lists are welcome. http://hamish.home.ml.org
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