Re: Debian GNU/Linux 9 (stretch) was broken after upgraded from stretch-backports.
Le dimanche 23 février 2020 00:40:05 UTC+1, Anastasios Lisgaras a écrit :
[...]
> I don't want to tire you out, but I would love to learn my operating
> system thanks to this misfortune. If they were in my position a system
> administrator or a software developer or a hacker about Debian
> GNU/Linux, what checks would he do to fix it ?
I am no Debian {developer|expert|guru} and others on this list are far knowledgeable than me, so take my words with a grain of salt:
Your system now is Stretch with all backports versions of the installed packages. It is potentially broken. But I cannot sustain it is broken: maybe you are lucky or there was no cause of alarm in your particular case. A downgrade would certainly aggravate the chances of problems.
But to be pragmatic, if you do not observe problems now, perhaps you never will, either because there are no problems or because you cannot detect them because they have no impact on your activity.
Perhaps you can look at:
https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-reference/ch02.en.html#_recovery_from_a_broken_system
https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/securing-debian-howto/ch-after-compromise.en.html#s11.4 (this for security more than reliabilty but it could be of interest, I do not know)
> Certainly ( format ) reinstalling the entire operating system would
> solve the problem. But this way is a little childish, isn't it?
>
> In my system, something is wrong. Surely something is not working
> properly. But what is this? Can't find what exactly is to blame?
> Can't find what exactly is responsible for that?
>
> Thank really you very much!
I would agree that always reinstalling an OS instead of fixing a problem that is well identified when there is a a well known solution is not the best action.
Conversely, I suppose it is a good option to reinstall a broken or compromised OS if you do not know exactly what the damages are and how you can repair them.
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