jyo wrote:Very pleased to see that there is an opensource driver for the wifi chip.
Nope.
Read again:
dasein wrote:WiFi on that machine requires proprietary firmware…
emphasis added
In addition to what my friends already said, I would like to speak to you about the nature of Debian's development branches (Testing and Unstable) because I have the feeling you might be interested in them for the wrong reasons (granted that from the point of view of every users' freedom to use whatever system they please, there are no right or wrong reasons, although I hope you will concede that if one uses common sense and understands the nature of Debian branches and the concept of stability, it can be said that some reasons are not exactly right).
Stability in Debian refers to the property of a system of being unchanging over the course of its release cycle. The notion that the word "stable" in the name of a release means "rock solid and reliable" is misguided an misguiding because even though it is true that a stable system is all that, it is a byproduct of the correct meaning of the word, namely unchanging, together with the fact that the development process to produce such system is long and thorough.
What does that mean for you?
It means that it is not about the difference between having a reliable system instead of a buggy-crashy one, indeed Testing and Unstable (nouns) are not unstable (adj) as opposed to how Stable (noun) is stable (adj), where both stable and unstable are mistakenly intended as "reliable".
Testing and Unstable can in fact, especially when operated by someone who has some experience and most of all the right mindset, be quite reliable and solid, while Stable is not at all inherently immune from crashes and other issues (it is however the next best thing).
Running a stable system like the official Debian release (Jessie now, Stretch in about 6-7 months) differs mainly from running a development branch in the amount of work and maintenance that a user has to put into it. Debian Stable is designed to be unchanging exactly to allow the user/admin to "set it and forget it" so to speak, and only having to oversee few and minor updates, mostly security stuff, without having to deal with upgrades to the system and applications, all things that in general interfere with productivity.
Development on the other hand, is designed to be a testing ground for software coming straight from upstream, is the environment where the future Stable system is put together, modeled, chiseled and polished to a shine.
A development user has to expect lots of updates and reconfiguration, upgrades and software changes which translate into a much bigger involvement in mere maintenance, which takes time out of productivity. Oh, and of course, in the midst of all that change, the bugs that are supposed to be caught and sorted out exactly on their systems.
As you can understand running a development system is always the wrong choice for anyone who has stuff to do other than simply maintaining the system.
Whether this stuff is high level programming or browsing for porn, writing your next novel or looking at funny cat pictures, Stable is always the correct choice.
When is Testing/Unstable the right choice?
It is the right choice when users are interested in testing new software and possibly contributing to the bug hunting process
at the price of sacrificing their own productivity, or when users have Stable on their primary machine and then they need no reason, right or wrong, to do whatever they want on their secondary or tertiary rigs.
It is the right choice when the user has understood the nature of Debian branches and the concept of stability and most importantly has accepted the fact that development branches are not and cannot be "like Stable but with newer software" and also that they are not "the systems of experts and gurus".
Ultimately it is the right choice if users understand and accept not only the risks involved, but most importantly have the mindset to roll up their sleeves and do the searching, reading and patching and do so knowing that it is part of the experience, and not a detour or nuisance.
In conclusion, if you want to program and develop your own system, it means that you have absolutely no time to waste on system maintenance. So choose Stable, and not for this examination, but even after that.
Bye
