3 ms·

I think Debian's long release cycles don't make much sense in this day and age. To me, a rolling release model makes much more sense, especially in this world w

I think Debian's long release cycles don't make much sense in this day and age. To me, a rolling release model makes much more sense, especially in this world where security updates are being done constantly, and are generally focused on the more modern branches. For enterprises where software is part of the core business, keeping up with updates on a regular basis is probably better than doing large upgrades every once in a while (for one thing, tracking down regressions is a lot easier when you don't have to search the entire haystack).

chei0aiV 11y ago
Debian has both models, so you can choose rolling or keep everything the same. There are also backports for when you need a hybrid of the two models.
koja86 11y ago
By using relase designation instead of toy codenames ("testing" instead of "Stretch") in apt config files I get pretty close to rolling realease. Using that and apt-pinning I am totally happy running stable/testing/unstable/experimental system with majority of packages from testing on my desktop. I am rather conservative and would avoid anything bleeding-edge on production systems so using stable with security updates (and stable-backports if needed) would be my choice. YMMV though.
- ckuehl 11y ago
  Just want to emphasize (and this is not directed specifically at you): you almost certainly shouldn't run Debian testing on anything that is public-facing. Packages get migrated to testing after some days in unstable if no high-priority bugs are filed against them during the days after their upload. If a security patch is uploaded to unstable today, you won't get it in testing for a few days, and possibly many more if the migration gets blocked. https://www.debian.org/devel/testing https://www.debian.org/devel/testing
  - g1n016399 11y ago
    You can install security updates from unstable using the output of debsecan: apt-get -t unstable install $(debsecan --suite sid --format packages --only-fixed)
    - ckuehl 11y ago
      Just keep in mind that unstable is not guaranteed to get security fixes promptly, either. The Debian Security Team only handles supported releases. The Security Team FAQ is a good read: https://www.debian.org/security/faq#unstable https://www.debian.org/security/faq#unstable It's quite explicit in saying that if security is important to you, then you should run a supported release.

chei0aiV 11y ago

Debian has both models, so you can choose rolling or keep everything the same. There are also backports for when you need a hybrid of the two models.

koja86 11y ago

By using relase designation instead of toy codenames ("testing" instead of "Stretch") in apt config files I get pretty close to rolling realease. Using that and apt-pinning I am totally happy running stable/testing/unstable/experimental system with majority of packages from testing on my desktop. I am rather conservative and would avoid anything bleeding-edge on production systems so using stable with security updates (and stable-backports if needed) would be my choice. YMMV though.

ckuehl 11y ago
Just want to emphasize (and this is not directed specifically at you): you almost certainly shouldn't run Debian testing on anything that is public-facing. Packages get migrated to testing after some days in unstable if no high-priority bugs are filed against them during the days after their upload. If a security patch is uploaded to unstable today, you won't get it in testing for a few days, and possibly many more if the migration gets blocked. https://www.debian.org/devel/testing https://www.debian.org/devel/testing
- g1n016399 11y ago
  You can install security updates from unstable using the output of debsecan: apt-get -t unstable install $(debsecan --suite sid --format packages --only-fixed)
  - ckuehl 11y ago
    Just keep in mind that unstable is not guaranteed to get security fixes promptly, either. The Debian Security Team only handles supported releases. The Security Team FAQ is a good read: https://www.debian.org/security/faq#unstable https://www.debian.org/security/faq#unstable It's quite explicit in saying that if security is important to you, then you should run a supported release.