Re: How did you update to stretch?
On Mon 26 Jun 2017 at 19:01:21 (+0100), Brian wrote:
> On Mon 26 Jun 2017 at 13:06:29 -0400, Greg Wooledge wrote:
>
> > On Tue, Jun 27, 2017 at 03:04:30AM +1000, John Elliot V wrote:
> > > Can I ask why you did the apt-get upgrade before the apt-get
> > > dist-upgrade? Why not just go straight for apt-get dist-upgrade..?
> >
> > Probably because (s)he read the release notes:
> >
> > <https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/amd64/release-notes/ch-upgrading.en.html#minimal-upgrade>
>
> The notes are clear but what is the point of following this procedure?
>
> You do an upgrade, so an upgrade is done. No new packages. Fair enough.
I have a desktop that I don't use very frequently at the moment.
Last time I booted it up, the apt-get upgrade downloaded over 70
packages. There was probably a point-release involved.
That contrasts with my regularly used machines that apt-get -d upgrade
every three hours and email me if their cache contains any packages.
If you watch upgrades taking place, you can see that they're phased.
Apt-ish and Dpkg-ish are setup before other packages are unpacked,
and so on. It's not all just done in one heap.
By running upgrade before dist-upgrade, you reduce complexity by
maximising the compatibility of packages with each other. When
lenny was replaced by squeeze, even these two steps were
insufficient; the kernel and udev needed replacing as a pair after
the (lenny) upgrade and before the (squeeze) dist-upgrade.
> You are none the wiser about what would happen if a dist-upgrade is done
> next, so it is still a dive into the unknown.
>
> Then you dist-upgrade. Why not leave out the previous step, unless there
> are packages you wish to keep? Perhaps an illustrative example of when
> the single-step process dist-upgrade fails would be helpful. The advice
>
> This has the effect of upgrading those packages which can be
> upgraded without requiring any other packages to be removed
> or installed
>
> simply repeats what apt-get(8) says without its detailed explanation.
>
> (I upgrade, reboot, dist-upgrade, But I am into cargo-cult).
Oh, I forgot. It was necessary, of course, to reboot after replacing
the kernel and udev in the lenny/squeeze process, in order for the
newly installed kernel to be actually running as opposed to just
spinning on the drive.
Cheers,
David.
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