Re: Upgrading from old Sarge (Testing) to Unstable

[Antony Gelberg <antony@wayforth.co.uk>]

d@jerkface.net wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 30, 2005 at 01:54:57PM +1100, Yasir Assam wrote:
> 
>>Hello,
>>
>>I installed DVDs of Sarge when it was the testing distribution (before 
>>the 3.1 release).
> 
> 
> [...]
> 
> 
>>I now have broadband and would like to upgrade to the Unstable dist. 
>>What's the best way of doing this?
> 
> 
> I would recommend first upgrading to stable, then installing whatever
> specific packages from testing or unstable you find necessary.  See
> apt_preferences(5) for a way to automate this.

This is not a good idea due to library incompatibilities.  Far better to
use backports (either roll-your-own or .deb repositories).  Better still
to pick a release and stick with it, and given the questions that you're
asking, I think it would be a good idea to stick with stable, if you
*have* to have newer stuff then testing, and certainly not unstable.