Re: How stable is the frozen stretch?
On 05/06/2017 04:55 PM, RavenLX wrote:
> I am thinking about trying out Stretch (Debian 9) in either a spare
> laptop or a virtual machine. If I like it I might just point my sources
> list to that repo on both laptops if it's stable enough.
>
I can't speak categorically, but In installed Stretch a couple of months
ago on my older laptop. It has been running without a hitch 24/7 since
then.
> My question is, once it's "frozen", how stable is it or is it still
> pretty much not suitable for production yet?
The word 'stable' doesn't refer to the stability of the installed system
vis-a-vis system crashes, etc. It refers to the packages and versions
in the repositories for the distribution. It is stable in that
the packages currently part of the release 9 distribution are/will be
the packages available at the versions currently in the repositories. It
is frozen in the sense that no new packages/version upgrades will be
admitted to the Stretch distribution. Patches may still be made to fix
security issues and serious bugs. During this time between freezing the
distribution and its actual release as the 'stable' distribution it is
thoroughly tested to make sure everything works and the various packages
talk to each other they way they should. In effect, Stretch is under
beta testing. Usually, by the time Stretch reaches the 'frozen' stage,
most of the major issues have been worked out, and it is reasonably
ready for production. However, they may still be a few problems to be
worked out...it is a beta after all.
I also use a couple
> programs from outside ppas (*gulp!* :-O) and am taking into
> consideration conflicts with those as well. They do work great with the
> current stable.
I use out of distribution packages on occasion as well. However, there
is no guarantee that such packages will work or continue to work under
the new distribution, even after it is released as Debian Stable.
Having said that, if they worked under Debian 8, they may well work
under Debian 9. Keep in mind, however, the libraries available with
Debian 9 will in many cases be new and updated versions, and may not be
the same as the ones used by the out of distribution packages. So there
may be some compatibility issues. (Issues I did have with one of the
out-of-distribution packages I use.)
Give it a try. If it works for you great. If you have problems,
especially with packages/libraries within the distribution, report them
so that they can be addressed and fixed. That kind of input is
important in getting the Stretch distribution through the process to the
Stable distribution.
--
73's,
WB5VQX -- The Very Quick X-ray
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