Benjamin Sher wrote:
Please bottom post to the list. That is if you are replying to the list, the original message should be on the top and what ever you write should go underneath. That makes it easy to read the threads.Dear kamaraju: Thank you again. One last question:If I install the stable sarge release, and someone issues a new debian package for some application, how do you decide whether to install it or not? Does apt-get take care of all that automatically?Thank you. Benjamin
Let's say you installed stable. The only package updates you will receive are security fixes. It is strongly advised to update your stable machine with the latest security releases.
OTOH, if you are running testing or unstable, there could be newer versions of packages released over time. You might or might not want to install them. One approach to solve the dilemma is to install apt-listchanges package. This package will tell you what changes were made to the package in the latest versions. Upon reading this info, you can choose whether or not to update your package.
apt-get will install packages only when you want/ask it to. It will not check for upgrades automatically. But by writing cron scripts, you can make apt-get update packages automatically. But if you are running testing/unstable, I strongly advise NOT to update packages automatically, since they are susceptible for frequent breakage.
hth raju -- Kamaraju S Kusumanchi Graduate Student, MAE Cornell University http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/kk288/