Re: Why does Debian have code names for releases?
On Mon, Jun 26, 2023 at 06:33:37PM +0200, Roger Price wrote:
> On Mon, 26 Jun 2023, Darac Marjal wrote:
>
The reason for Debian using code names - and it was one of the first Linux
distributions to use code names routinely - was very simple.
Debian 1.0 never happened. InfoMagic took a copy of Debian which wasn't
finished and called it "1.0" - see Debian announce from the DPL at that
point.
https://lists.debian.org/debian-announce/1995/msg00010.html
Bruce Perens was Debian Project Leader at that point (and worked for Pixar,
then an independent company and makers of the Toy Story film).
Codenames make sense for long running tracking of Debian releases - and that's
how they're used by both developers and users.
>
> Ideally that is how it should work, but usage of code names persists in this
> user list. I have no problem with code names in the dev list.
>
I do try to reference both codenames and release numbers whenever I refer to
any Debian release. Potentially, it's not very important to remember more
than current testing/stable/old stable - anything much older isn't worth
considering routinely unless you find an old machine you suddenly need to
update.
[Experimental] [RC-Buggy] - not a full distribution
Sid Sid unstable - never released as a distribution
[13] Trixie testing
12 Bookworm stable
11 Bullseye oldstable
10 Buster oldoldstable
> > OK, a question back at you, then: Why do you feel the need to remember
> > Debian codenames?
>
> Because the members of this list continue to use code names.
>
Referring to a codename does allow you to track any particular distribution
by codename as it passes through the symlink stages of testing -> stable
-> oldstable -> oldoldstable [-> oldoldoldstable]
> > So, I'd say that, as a user of Debian, you basically want to refer to
> > two things:
> > * Stable/OldStable/OldOldStable to refer to the current and previous releases
> > * A number to refer to the released version.
>
> Agreed. I would always use the number to refer to a released version, but
> the problem is that it is not the general usage in this list.
>
> Roger
>
This is fairly well documented on Debian wiki pages and Wikipedia.
Hope this helps somebody.
With every good wish, as ever,
Andy
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