Re: how to update Debian OS properly
On Sat, 26 May 2012 16:43:45 +0500
Muhammad Yousuf Khan <sirtcp@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> if i use Squeeze (the code name) instead stable, sid or anything.
> should i not to worry about system crash? is it what people here mean
> to say (who support code name "squeeze" ) that if i "apt-get
> upgrade/full-upgrade/safe-upgrade" will not crash my system if using
> squeeze. because what i am worried about here is system crash.
>
Usually when a version of Stable is upgraded to the next, there will be
some things to do manually. If you have any software installed by other
means than the apt system, or from other repositories than the
official Debian ones, then that will need to be upgraded by hand, or
maybe even removed if that software is now available in the new version.
There may be some applications whose configuration files have changed
significantly, and cannot be automatically upgraded. There may be some
applications on hold, where you did not want them kept up to date even
at the risk of security bugs. Such holds must be released before
upgrading. So you don't want a version upgrade to happen without
preparation, and certainly not automatically on the day of the new
release.
It's a bit like automatic updates in Windows: you wouldn't enable that
on a server, you would want to check first and approve updates (and
possibly wait a week to see who else has problems..). If you are
installing a service pack, this is especially true, and a Debian
version upgrade is broadly similar to an MS service pack.
So if you use the codename of the distribution, the version upgrade
will not happen automatically, and this is generally what you want.
After the new version is released, you can take up to a year to prepare
for the upgrade, and carry it out at a time of your own choosing.
If you use the Stable distribution, with no apt sources other than the
official Debian ones, and use the codename in your sources list, you
should never expect to see any system disturbance. When you make the
upgrade to the next version, you shouldn't expect to see any problems
which have not been mentioned in the release notes for the upgrade.
As to which upgrade to use routinely, it's not too important in Stable.
Nothing should be removed under normal conditions, so aptitude
safe-upgrade or apt-get upgrade should have the same effect as aptitude
full-upgrade or apt-get dist-upgrade. The apt-get and aptitude actions
are not absolutely identical, but very similar for routine upgrades, the
differences are in how dependencies are handled. Routine upgrades of
the Stable distribution do not normally involve any dependency changes.
The release notes for a version upgrade will normally advise which of
the two systems is preferred for the upgrade (e.g. apt-get for squeeze,
aptitude for lenny).
If you choose to run sid, the Unstable distribution, on a workstation,
you will learn Debian a little bit quicker, but you should expect
problems. You will need to look at upgrades before carrying them out,
as routine upgrades applied without thinking can damage sid, and this
happens once or twice a year. Much more often than that, sid will
ask if you want half of your desktop environment removed, and it's
usually safer to say no. There are typically 20-50 packages upgraded per
day in an 'average' sid system, and at any time there are two or three
needing upgrades but with problems preventing it happening.
--
Joe
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