Re: Upgrading from Etch to Lenny
On Thu, 2007-09-20 at 22:59 -0500, Mumia W.. wrote:
> Non sequitor. We're not comparing Debian with Windows in this thread.
> We're comparing Debian with Debian (i.e. Debian/Testing to
> Debian/Stable). "Testing" consists of software that is still being
> tested; the distribution is going to have a lot of bugs, and it's going
> to be a lot more problematic for new Debian users than "stable."
Debian Etch (stable) contains GNOME 2.14, which was released in the
spring of 2006. Debian Lenny (testing) contains GNOME 2.18, which was
release in the spring of 2007. GNOME has just release 2.20 this month.
By no stretch of the imagination is GNOME 2.18 "software that is still
being tested." At this point, neither is GNOME 2.20, and that hasn't
even hit Debian Sid (unstable) yet.
> Your work is helping to create the next great version of the Debian O/S.
> That's because you're willing to use "testing" and report on its bugs.
Or not. Many of us use testing because, on the one hand, we can't stand
to run a hopelessly outdated OS on our desktops (stable) and, on the
other, we don't like the occasional breakage and pace of change in
unstable. Testing represents a great way to use not-too-outdated
software, as compared to stable (if not to Fedora, or Ubuntu), without
having to deal with the more frequent glitches that crop up in unstable.
> "Testing" is not a released version of Debian; "testing" exists to get
> bugs fixed. You only use testing if you want to test software.
Speak for yourself. No one is "testing" Evolution 2.10, or GNOME 2.18,
or much of the other software in testing. Much of it isn't even the
most recently released version of any given piece of software. What is
being tested is how well everything fits together in the Debian system,
and most of that gets fixed in Sid.
Debian has the most conservative release policy of any Linux distro I
know of. That suits some types of users very well, particularly those
who need reliability that's as close to 100% as you can get, those who's
servers truly are mission-critical and can't afford a few minor glitches
that might temporarily mess something up. It does not suit many
garden-variety desktop users who systems are less than a few years old
and who don't want to be stuck in early 2006 for the next year while
Debian drags itself kicking and screaming through yet another protracted
and endlessly delayed release cycle.
--
Michael M.
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