In <[🔎] 20100130114447.GA2955@hexbrex.tri>, Sebastian wrote: >On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 02:36PM -0500, Wayne <linuxtwo@gmail.com> wrote: >> >Even if I remove the unstable and stable entries from sources.list and >> >apt/preferences no other versions show up >> >> I would not put all 3 dists in sources.list. That could/would cause >> quite some mess. testing/unstable is bad enough but you should be >> careful using it. > >I thought if you set up apt-pinning in /etc/apt/preferences that >should be possible without any major problems? You've got to remember a few things when running a mixed system: 1. Debian policy is to maintain the ABI for libraries that keep the same SONAME, but sometimes packages headed for unstable/experimental break this, usually unintentionally. If it is an important library, this can really mess with your system stability (i.e. lack of crashes). 2. Downgrades are not supported, and can't really be. Once you've pulled in a package from testing/unstable you can't go back, and as that package has new version released, it may gradually need more dependencies from testing/unstable. For some packages you can PURGE and then reinstall a lower version, but doing the purge can be difficult if you have other packages that depend on it. I've done some normal package downgrades before, but I got lucky and they worked; I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. 3. Just because a package says it will work with the libraries in stable doesn't always mean it will. Humans do the packaging and they make mistakes. Since most packages are uploaded to unstable (and migrate to testing/stable through other means), they are tested against a pure unstable system. Even packages that are uploaded specifically to testing (rare) or stable(-proposed- updates), aren't tested on a mixed system, but rather a pure testing or pure stable system. 4. apt-listbugs is your friend, particularly when you are upgrading a package from stable -> testing or testing -> unstable. You don't have to let every bug hold you back, but you should be selective about which bugs you install. 5. apt-cache policy is invaluable in making sure your /etc/apt/preferences file is provided the level of "mix" you want. In short, you are in potentially dangerous and completely unsupported waters. The mix of testing/unstable is fairly well tested and documented in apt_preferences(5). Using stable + backports is very safe, even without pinning (backports pins itself to priority 1). Using unstable + experimental is how experimental was designed (it doesn't have every package) so it is as safe as using "experimental" packages ever is. Something like my stable/backports/testing/unstable/experimental mix is well beyond unsupported, at least in theory. In practice it has been no harder to maintain that any other Debian system, and I've been able to use the same resources I ever did. I recommend it for advanced users that are comfortable working with the interactive dependency resolver in aptitude, but with the warnings above in mind. -- Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. ,= ,-_-. =. bss@iguanasuicide.net ((_/)o o(\_)) ICQ: 514984 YM/AIM: DaTwinkDaddy `-'(. .)`-' http://iguanasuicide.net/ \_/
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