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Because it's the stable branch, and it gets no major version updates for anything after release, nor any new packages, just bugfixes to the current version. Th
by geofft 8y ago
Because it's the stable branch, and it gets no major version updates for anything after release, nor any new packages, just bugfixes to the current version.
There is backports, and I've thought about maintaining a newer Python interpreter in backports (when I was working for a company using Jessie and trying to use a Debian stack for everything and sort of wanting async syntax). You could introduce python3.6 or python3.7 as a new package in backports. But it would be extremely hard to update the Python modules in Debian to the newer version, too, because there's just a "python3-foo" package for each module, so you'd either have to recompile all binary modules and patch them to work on the newer Python as necessary (and patch anything using async or await as regular identifiers....), or you'd have to introduce an interpreter that intentionally wasn't compatible with modules installed as Debian packages. (Or you could introduce an interpreter that tried its best and failed randomly, which seems worse than either option.) I'm personally sympathetic to wanting to get /usr/bin/python3.6 from my OS even if the only useful thing to do is put a virtualenv on top, but I think it makes sense to just install Python yourself into /usr/local at that point.
Re latexmk, it looks like the volunteer maintainer hasn't updated it since 2015, and there's a culture of not stepping on people's toes and waiting a while before assuming they're inactive or no longer care. But it's been updated in the development release. The current changelog https://metadata.ftp-master.debian.org/changelogs/main/l/latexmk/latexmk_4.61-0.1_changelog https://metadata.ftp-master.debian.org/changelogs/main/l/lat... has a bunch of "NMU" entries, non-maintainer uploads.
- mehrdadn 8y agoThanks for the explanation. Re latexmk: so am I getting the development release on Arch? I get the 2018 version with texlive-core.
- geofft 8y agoSorry, I mean that the volunteer maintainer of the latexmk package in Debian hasn't updated it since 2015. Arch probably has a newer version from the latexmk authors (and I think Arch does not have the same culture of individual package maintainers, in general).
- mehrdadn 8y ago..Oh. Wow. Do distros not care if their packages are updated for 3+ years? I'd have expected half their entire job is to make sure package maintainers are actually maintaining packages...
- dima55 8y agoI don't know who these "distros" people are. Humans care. But no humans cared-enough to update this earlier. If you want to contribute to the Debian project specifically, talk to me.
- int_19h 8y agoEventually such packages get removed (usually when they stop building for whatever reason). But if the package still works, having an old version of it is still better than not having anything.
- Svenstaro 8y agoJust to note: in Arch we almost only have individual package maintainers.
- explainplease 8y agoThe Debian LaTeX maintainer was essentially harassed out of the project by the Anti-Harassment Team.
- int_19h 8y agoSource?
- explainplease 8y agoThe horse's mouth: https://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2018/12/msg00032.html https://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2018/12/msg00032.htm... Downvoters: If you're honest, then do your homework instead of downvoting. If you're dishonest, and you're trying to cover it up, shame on you--you're as bad as the abusers in Debian.
- jhasse 8y ago> Because it's the stable branch, and it gets no major version updates for anything after release, nor any new packages, just bugfixes to the current version. No, Debian stable doesn't get bugfixes, only if those bugfixes are for security issues! (or some really severe bugs) Example: Debian's Python is still 3.4.2, not 3.4.9!