which Debian do you use most often?

[Danielsan]

Franken Debian forever!

[trinidad]

Stable only, server and desktop, and I always wait a month or two before dist upgrades. Not an old stick in the mud, I just hate problems. Nothing is more stable than Debian stable.

TC

[debian-2019]

...

I started to experience issues due to old kernel or old packages incompatible with newer devices I'm using

https://backports.debian.org/

And thank you for proving kedeha's point

It says there:
"Backports cannot be tested as extensively as Debian stable, and backports are provided on an as-is basis, with risk of incompatibilities with other components in Debian stable. Use with care!"
It sounds to me like getting the same risk (more or less) as going all the way to sid. But thanks for that tip. I'm sure I will explore that option in the future.

Regarding kedeha's point, it is true in my case because there is a justifiable reason why I tried Debian in the first place. I did experience issues in Linux Mint due to problems which originated in Ubuntu. I'm trying to avoid Ubuntu problems by going straight to Debian. But the stable Debian has limitations which renders some of my devices unusable. Don't you think it is just practical to go with the more up-to-date testing version of Debian? As I pointed out, the stable version of Ubuntu is based on sid.

[Bulkley]

Don't you think it is just practical to go with the more up-to-date testing version of Debian?

No.

As I pointed out, the stable version of Ubuntu is based on sid.

"Based on" is not the same as "is." Other distributions apply their own rules which may or may not have any relation to Debian.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

It says there:
"Backports cannot be tested as extensively as Debian stable, and backports are provided on an as-is basis, with risk of incompatibilities with other components in Debian stable. Use with care!"
It sounds to me like getting the same risk (more or less) as going all the way to sid.

Not really, the packages in sid haven't been tested at all — you are the guinea pig (thanks!)

Don't you think it is just practical to go with the more up-to-date testing version of Debian?

No, testing can be less reliable than sid because the package migration is delayed by 10-14 days so if stuff is broken then it can stay broken for a few weeks whereas sid gets the fixes from upstream straight away.

The Security Team don't cover testing/unstable at all so this can make testing rather vulnerable, mine was open the the MDS vulnerability ("zombieload") for a while.

And the API changes can break configurations and force you to keep updating them, which is a pain.

[debian-2019]

...
No, testing can be less reliable than sid because the package migration is delayed by 10-14 days so if stuff is broken then it can stay broken for a few weeks whereas sid gets the fixes from upstream straight away.

The Security Team don't cover testing/unstable at all so this can make testing rather vulnerable, mine was open the the MDS vulnerability ("zombieload") for a while.

And the API changes can break configurations and force you to keep updating them, which is a pain.

Forgive me for a very newbie question, but the weekly and daily builds are the sid versions, right? And the RC the testing versions?

[Head_on_a_Stick]

If you're referring to the ISO images then the weekly & daily builds have versions for all of the branches.

The RC1 image is to test the release candidate of the installer for the next Debian stable version.

[debian-2019]

If you're referring to the ISO images then the weekly & daily builds have versions for all of the branches.

The RC1 image is to test the release candidate of the installer for the next Debian stable version.

Oh my...thanks for making that clear to me now. I may have to go stable version next time and just do the backport thing for unsupported devices.

[Bulkley]

Oh my...thanks for making that clear to me now. I may have to go stable version next time and just do the backport thing for unsupported devices.

Many unsupported devices simply need a non-free blob. Add non-free to your sources.list file. Like this:

Code: Select all

deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ stretch main contrib non-free

If you know this already, ignore me.

[vbrummond]

I always run latest testing. My interest in Linux is mostly a curiosity at this point. Debian is still nice though. It hasn't changed much in the last decade.

[sickpig]

I always run latest testing. My interest in Linux is mostly a curiosity at this point. Debian is still nice though. It hasn't changed much in the last decade.

were u curious for the entire last decade since u created ur forum account here?

[dilberts_left_nut]

I lost the time and inclination for the "life of eternal upgrades" so it's stable for me.
Currently have a couple of buster boxen for planning and testing purposes and still rocking a wheezy and also squeeze server in specific roles that are still doing their jobs.

[vbrummond]

I always run latest testing. My interest in Linux is mostly a curiosity at this point. Debian is still nice though. It hasn't changed much in the last decade.

were u curious for the entire last decade since u created ur forum account here?

I used to be an open source contributor, a mod here, and am a certified Linux admin.

Linux is still great and the Debian project is really amazing, of course I keep up with it.

[4D696B65]

Nice to see you vb

[sickpig]

Nice to see you vb

+1