Debian needs a slightly different cycle:
Unstable (bleeding edge) ~~~> Testing (mostly useable) ---> Frozen (No
packages may be added beyond security updates. This branch is being
prepared for release) ----> Stable (Rock solid. End product).
'~~~>' means packages trickle down when ready. '--->' means the entire
branch moves down as a whole.
Why?
1. There are many, such as myself, whose only contribution is
testing. This may be for many reasons not necessarily related to skill
level. Personally, I only have time to do testing. I don't have time
to deal with troubleshooting unstable (I've followed unstable in the
past)
2. The Debian cycle needs to stay moving at all times.
3. Testing has proven itself, in practice, to be the branch of choice
for one desiring to stay modern. If it gets frozen that causes many
problems including the above mentioned ones.
P.S. I like the names. They make Debian more fun. It's possible to
have explicit apt sources in /etc/apt/sources.list and follow a
distribution all the way from unstable to stable without changing the
apt sources. IMHO, that's neat.