Linux debian rolling release

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SOLVED: How to turn Debian into a rolling release?

SOLVED: How to turn Debian into a rolling release?

#1 Post by josephellengar » 2011-11-14 16:56

Hi there! I am an Ubuntu user and I wish to change to Debian because Ubuntu is getting flashy, annoying, and I like the idea of the Debian branch of Gnome 2. Anyway, I heard from another source that there is a way to change the sources.lst file in Squeeze (that is the latest release, right?) so that it becomes a rolling release of the Stable branch, and I will never have to do another major update. Is this true? I am just looking for confirmation of this one fact. Also, all of the packages that I use in Ubuntu should be in Debian, correct? But if I use the stable branch they will be a little bit behind but upgraded at the same rate?

For background, I typically use a 1-2 year old version of Ubuntu for stability (currently on 10.10). I am a relatively experienced Linux user and, if it matters, using an x64 system with 8gb Ram that is about 2 years old.

Re: How to turn Debian into a rolling release?

#2 Post by carabela » 2011-11-14 17:08

Debian is not a rolling release. The closest to rolling you can get is the testing or unstable branches, but they are not stable, so you will see new versions of software, e.g. gnome 3.

If you want to run newer software on stable there is the backports repository or you can learn to backport your own packages.

dasein Posts: 7680 Joined: 2011-03-04 01:06 Location: Terra Incantationum

Re: How to turn Debian into a rolling release?

#3 Post by dasein » 2011-11-14 17:24

The Debian release cycle is nothing like Ubuntu’s. (Thank goodness!)

Whoever told you that there is a «rolling release» of Debian Stable is massively wrong. Not a credible information source.

Re: How to turn Debian into a rolling release?

#4 Post by emariz » 2011-11-14 19:29

As you use Ubuntu 10.10, a LTS release, you should install Squeeze + Backports, and, maybe, track the kernel from Testing or Liquorix.

Debian 6, Squeeze, uses Gnome 2.30+, and will keep using it until late 2013 or early 2014 (a year after the release of Debian 7). This should give you plenty of time to learn Debian, to test Gnome 3 and to decide to keep using Stable or try Testing or Unstable, which behave, in many ways, like a rolling release distribution.

Backports would provide newer versions of many popular packages and the kernels from Testing or Liquorix would bring new features and support for new devices.

craigevil Posts: 5381 Joined: 2006-09-17 03:17 Location: heaven Has thanked: 27 times Been thanked: 36 times

Re: How to turn Debian into a rolling release?

#5 Post by craigevil » 2011-11-14 21:36

blah blah Gnome 3 sucks blah blah.

Get over it, either switch to a new DE like XFCE or KDE or use a window manager like openbox.

Gnome 2 is dead. Granted it is in Stable but it won;t be when Wheezy is released as stable in another year or so.

I say we take the dozen or more thread crying about Gnome 3 and stuff them all together. That way we will have one giant thread where people can come cry and whine about how bad it is or not.

Try it you may come to like it, I couldn’t stand kde4 when it first came out now I like it just as much as I did kde3.5.

As for Gnome the only good gnome is a yard gnome, or maybe the travelocity gnome.

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Re: How to turn Debian into a rolling release?

#6 Post by emariz » 2011-11-14 22:37

craigevil, we understand your negativity; it must be really hard to be a KDE user. KDE 3 had never ending incoherent menus, KDE 4.0 was a piece of crap and in KDE 4.7 they still haven’t managed to deal with the menus. On the other hand, Gnome 2 was great and Gnome 3 has only had one revision; there’s hope. In the meantime: Gnome 3’s configuration options suck! Don’t use it until a proper GSettings editor is available.

Re: How to turn Debian into a rolling release?

#7 Post by emarsk » 2011-11-14 23:16

Re: How to turn Debian into a rolling release?

#8 Post by josephellengar » 2011-11-14 23:54

dasein wrote: The Debian release cycle is nothing like Ubuntu’s. (Thank goodness!)

Whoever told you that there is a «rolling release» of Debian Stable is massively wrong. Not a credible information source.

The current version is Debian Squeeze.
When you finish downloading, just edit /etc/apt/sources.list, and change «squeeze» to «stable». Now, you will have stable easy rolling releases. Normally, you would have to upgrade from squeeze to whatever the next version is. Now, the packages simply update to the new release by themselves without your intervention. Nothing else needs to be done about the rolling releases, they will just go and go and go.

Debian is also very clean and minimalistic. None of that social networking crap that comes bundeled in with other linux distros.

Or what about LMDE? Is that any good? I’m really looking for something similar to Ubuntu but simpler and without the Jazz that is screwing up the release. Debian seemed like the obvious choice.

dasein Posts: 7680 Joined: 2011-03-04 01:06 Location: Terra Incantationum

Re: How to turn Debian into a rolling release?

#9 Post by dasein » 2011-11-15 00:39

I confess I’ve never tried using the stable alias; perhaps someone else has.

Still, even if this approach «works» (and it’s not 100% clear to me that it would, or at least not well), that doesn’t magically transform Stable into a «rolling release.» Stable receives only security updates throughout its lifetime. There are no updates simply for «newness.» (Which is why folks like me love Stable.)

Thus, under the most optimistic of circumstances, «aliasing» stable would only «work» at best once every couple of years. And it would be no different from changing «squeeze» to «wheezy» once Wheezy became the new Stable.

And LMDE doesn’t work off Stable; it works off Testing.

At the risk of seeming to repeat myself: http://wiki.debian.org/DebianReleases

Re: How to turn Debian into a rolling release?

#10 Post by josephellengar » 2011-11-15 00:55

dasein wrote: I confess I’ve never tried using the stable alias; perhaps someone else has.

Still, even if this approach «works» (and it’s not 100% clear to me that it would, or at least not well), that doesn’t magically transform Stable into a «rolling release.» Stable receives only security updates throughout its lifetime. There are no updates simply for «newness.» (Which is why folks like me love Stable.)

Thus, under the most optimistic of circumstances, «aliasing» stable would only «work» at best once every couple of years. And it would be no different from changing «squeeze» to «wheezy» once Wheezy became the new Stable.

And LMDE doesn’t work off Stable; it works off Testing.

At the risk of seeming to repeat myself: http://wiki.debian.org/DebianReleases

Oh well, I guess that person didn’t know what he/she was talking about. Thanks for the help everybody.

dasein Posts: 7680 Joined: 2011-03-04 01:06 Location: Terra Incantationum

Re: SOLVED: How to turn Debian into a rolling release?

#11 Post by dasein » 2011-11-15 01:07

Glad you found some insight.

BTW, if you aren’t in love with newness for newness’ sake, Debian Stable is an excellent choice. (And Stable+Backports gives you the best of both worlds.)

Oh, and thanks for marking your thread as SOLVED.

Re: How to turn Debian into a rolling release?

#12 Post by emariz » 2011-11-15 01:33

dasein wrote: Thus, under the most optimistic of circumstances, «aliasing» stable would only «work» at best once every couple of years. And it would be no different from changing «squeeze» to «wheezy» once Wheezy became the new Stable

You’re right, that’s exactly what would happen. The Ubuntu user most likely meant «testing» instead of «stable».

In the case of Stable, it’s always better to use the codename of the release because a new release may include radical changes that force one to read the release notes and apply the updates in a certain way. In the case of Testing, the use of the codename matters mostly at the time of the new release, because the updates will arrive in dozens and one may want to wait a couple of days (i.e. use the codename of soon-to-be Stable) until one understands what’s going on. The codename is irrelevant in the case of Unstable.

Re: SOLVED: How to turn Debian into a rolling release?

#13 Post by Thorny » 2011-11-15 13:44

It is always going to be difficult knowing what «somebody» over in «some other forum» meant but it looks to me like they were defining «rolling release» as automagic update because, as has already been mentioned, that’s exactly how using stable in sources list would work.

One thing to be aware of josephellengar, if you choose to use the «stable» name in your list your system will upgrade to the new stable when wheezy becomes the new stable and since it will likely be GNOME3 you would defeat your stated reason for coming to Debian. In addition, I would never want to do a massive upgrade like that automatically, certainly not immediately after release, certainly not until I had a chance to read the release notes, and known bugs.

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Re: How to turn Debian into a rolling release?

#14 Post by bmc5311 » 2011-11-15 14:27

craigevil wrote: blah blah Gnome 3 sucks blah blah.

Get over it, either switch to a new DE like XFCE or KDE or use a window manager like openbox.
Gnome 2 is dead. Granted it is in Stable but it won;t be when Wheezy is released as stable in another year or so.
I say we take the dozen or more thread crying about Gnome 3 and stuff them all together. That way we will have one giant thread where people can come cry and whine about how bad it is or not.

Try it you may come to like it, I couldn’t stand kde4 when it first came out now I like it just as much as I did kde3.5.
As for Gnome the only good gnome is a yard gnome, or maybe the travelocity gnome.

I’m with you. +1 and speaking as an openbox guy, I don’t think the new gnome shell is all that bad. Nice clean desktop, pretty fast, not a super resource hog. If it had a real right click menu it’d be pretty sweet.

Re: SOLVED: How to turn Debian into a rolling release?

#15 Post by superuserlaptop » 2012-01-15 00:09

I don’t wish to be disrespectful, but your question about rolling Debian is anathema to me and many others. I cannot understand why every software, or individuals such as you wish to make computer operating systems glitzy and hard to use. Why do you think you and most everyone else bailed on Ubuntu? Why do you think many of the «Apple or Die» are bailing out of the system that at the most had an 8% market share. Why do you think so many people are leaving Microsoft and Windows 7 and coming to Debian.

If they are like me, they wish stability so that we may do our work without arguing with a computer.

When you go to rolling releases and other gimmicky things you open the door to what happened to Ubuntu and why you and also me left.
I may be wrong but I think some people in the wrong places are taking kick-backs and we the users have suffered. I hope I am wrong, of course that would mean that folks who are not thinking how to make software logical to the average individual are making some very poor decisions. Currently Gnome did something to my desktop and I can all but not use it. I have been pleading with Gnome not to follow Ubuntu, Unity, iMac, or Windows 7.

I am currently trying to undo this Gnome crap and ran across you posting. Let’s keep some things based upon logic, instead of ego. If it means we might miss out on a gimmick, if someone does not figure out how to do it in Debian, so be it. If that is not good enough, there are other systems.

I don’t think that you want the glitz base upon your comments, but at least in my part of the United States, if you dig a hole it will probably fill with water, whether you want it or not. Debian is far from perfect, but I would say much easier to use than most other systems.

Again, I am saying this, not out of anger, but we see what happened when Ubuntu dug a new hole. It filled with computer water, Unity. Welcome to Debian. I am glad that you came over to common sense.

PS. For some reason I can’t get the smilies working, just assume a whole bunch.

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