Re: [tlug] Looking for a distribution to replace Ubuntu

["Clemens Schwaighofer" <gullevek@example.com>]

>
> But anyway, here are a couple of examples of what I'm looking for. (You
> can let me know your term for this, if you like.)
>
> <snip>

a) if you use stable, and you know the year long release cycle you
either stick with horrible outdated software, use a backport server or
just bang your had against the wall

b) if you use the testing tree (as I do on everything where I have
debian installed) you will be very up to date. Except when a freeze
for a release is due. And that is now. That's why there is pidgin 2.4,
zabbix 1.4, etc in testing, otoh there is already postgres 8.3.4 there
and this is fine.

Plus if you want to know why a package is so outdated look at the
http://packages.qa.debian.org/common/index.html, eg for Pidgin
http://packages.qa.debian.org/p/pidgin.html, then you can see why the
package is still outdated.

> Last time I was using Debian, some time after PostgreSQL 8.1.1 was
> released (after a long and happy 8.0.x set of releases and an 8.1.0
> release), Debian's latest package was still a 7.4.x release, which at
> that point was deprecated by the PostgreSQL project.

That is why I *NEVER* use Debian stable, or else you have to work with
backports and what not else and this would drive me crazy. I run
Testing tree since 6 years on my oldest server (which still runs) and
never ever had a single problem, and I have everything up to date.

> It could well be that I'm missing something here about Linux distro
> upgrade procedures, as compared to NetBSD pkgsrc. (The Q3 stable release
> of pkgsrc, for example, includes pidgin 2.5.1.) But when it comes to
> issues like the PostgreSQL one above, certainly I don't want to be
> running on my servers versions deprecated by their vendors and no longer
> getting security fixes from them!

As said before, Debian Stable releases are FAR to slow. Nowadays
Software is updated way faster and if Debian only releases once every
year (or even less) then you are stuck with horrible outdated
packages. In with Postgres there are Lightyears between 7.4 and 8.x
series ...

--
Clemens Schwaighofer
gullevek@example.com / gullevek@example.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gullevek/