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Debian testing

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dcs.79c
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Debian testing

#1 Post by dcs.79c »

I've had both Windows & Macs. I currently have a Mac mini & a MacBook Pro. I'm interested in trying out Linux. I've spent hours on DistroWatch & YouTube & Google researching Linux. I want to install VirtualBox & try out different distros of Linux. I researched the different package managers. For 1 reason or another I eliminated all but Debian.

I've spent hours on DistroWatch & I can search for distros based on Debian, Debian (stable), Debian (tested) & Debian (unstable). I've noticed that some of the Linux distros are based on Debian (unstable). Why would anybody want a Linux distro based on Debian (unstable)? Wouldn't it crash frequently?

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phenest
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Re: Debian testing

#2 Post by phenest »

Debian has no release cycle. Therefore, it can be years in between releases. So, other Debian based distros, use unstable as a base because it's constantly changing as new source code is released. It means they can provide a more "up to date" release of software at the expense of being potentially "unstable". But they do patch their software quite extensively in order to combat instabilities.
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Re: Debian testing

#3 Post by arochester »

Stable is recommended for the average user. It contains tried and tested packages, but they tend to be older versions.

Unstable is not as unstable as its name suggests can be used to more experienced users, who know what they are doing and how to recover from a problem should it occur. It contains packages which are being tried out and they tend to be newer versions. Many of the experienced users of unstable can, with care, go for quite some time by avoiding problems.

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Re: Debian testing

#4 Post by stevepusser »

Jessie is also having more trouble working out of the box with brand-new hardware than Wheezydid at the same point in its reign as stable, at least that what it seems to me from the number of posts with that problem. It's easier for a derivative to circumvent the issue by starting from a testing base, though it's not impossible for a Jessie-based one.
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Re: Debian testing

#5 Post by None1975 »

dcs.79c wrote:I've had both Windows & Macs. I currently have a Mac mini & a MacBook Pro. I'm interested in trying out Linux. I've spent hours on DistroWatch & YouTube & Google researching Linux. I want to install VirtualBox & try out different distros of Linux. I researched the different package managers. For 1 reason or another I eliminated all but Debian.

I've spent hours on DistroWatch & I can search for distros based on Debian, Debian (stable), Debian (tested) & Debian (unstable). I've noticed that some of the Linux distros are based on Debian (unstable). Why would anybody want a Linux distro based on Debian (unstable)? Wouldn't it crash frequently?
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dcs.79c
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Re: Debian testing

#6 Post by dcs.79c »

After I sent this thread, I read on the internet that Ubuntu uses the unstable version of Debian. I didn't know that.

This will be my first foray into Linux.

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pylkko
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Re: Debian testing

#7 Post by pylkko »

dcs.79c wrote:After I sent this thread, I read on the internet that Ubuntu uses the unstable version of Debian. I didn't know that.

This will be my first foray into Linux.
This is also in the FAQ but Debian stable is also based on Debian unstable. A snapshot of it is taken and then bugs patched

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GarryRicketson
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Re: Debian testing

#8 Post by GarryRicketson »

by dcs.79c » Why would anybody want a Linux distro based on Debian (unstable)? Wouldn't it crash frequently?
Yes, this was the main problems I had with both Linux Mint and
Ubuntu, they both were very unreliable, and crashed frequently.
Usually when ever there were updates/upgrades.
But many people don't seem to mind that.
As for the many other distros, I don't know, I have not tried them.

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Re: Debian testing

#9 Post by dcs.79c »

Ubuntu is based on Debian & there are distros that are based on Ubuntu. I wonder if the distro possibly becomes more unstable the further it gets from "pure" Debian.

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Re: Debian testing

#10 Post by stevepusser »

Unstable does not mean that programs will necessarily crash constantly; it just means the foundation of the system is subject to change. However, the programs could contain bugs, the lengthy Debian development cycle is meant to squash as many of those as possible before the stable version goes stable...that is, there have to be no known release-critical bugs left before stable is released. That's not the case with distros that release by date. Obviously they release with known bugs, such as Ubuntu 16.04 with its network-manager problems, just to meet the schedule.
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