Debian On Track For May 5 Release

[lxskllr]

We now have a target date of the weekend of 4th/5th May for the release.
We have checked with core teams, and this seems to be acceptable for
everyone. This means we are able to begin the final preparations for a
release of Debian 7.0 - "Wheezy".

The intention is only to lift the date if something really critical pops
up that is not possible to handle as an errata, or if we end up
technically unable to release that weekend (e.g. a required machine
crashes or d-i explodes in a giant ball of fire). Every other RC fix
that does not make it in time will be r1 material. Please be sure to
contact us about the RC fixes you would like included in the point
release!

http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2013/04/msg00006.html

Can't wait to start getting fun updates again :^)

 

[smakme7757]

We have been running wheezy rc1 on our lab at school and it's been working really well. This is good news.

Mobile post

 

[zokudu]

I've never used Debian through a major release like this before. Will it be relatively easy to upgrade from Squeeze to Wheezy? I use Debian on my small file server so I've stuck the stable for over a year now but I have so much data on the server I really don't want my install hosed in any way.

 

[smakme7757]

I've never used Debian through a major release like this before. Will it be relatively easy to upgrade from Squeeze to Wheezy? I use Debian on my small file server so I've stuck the stable for over a year now but I have so much data on the server I really don't want my install hosed in any way.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[Elixer]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

But the problem is, lots of packages ARE broken, with security issues.

Debian is a bit too slow with their releases IMHO.

 

[lxskllr]

But the problem is, lots of packages ARE broken, with security issues.

Debian is a bit too slow with their releases IMHO.

Depends on what you want. Debian is built for stability, and stability means packages don't change frequently. Debian gets security fixes throughout it's life, and is as secure as any other distro.


As far as upgrade goes, I don't know. I'm on testing, and am expecting a flood of updates with possible breakage. I'd expect stable to upgrade ok though.

 

[Elixer]

Yeah, I know if you like the cutting edge, get Gentoo or whatever, but that is too hardcore for too many people.

The problem is, if you have a fast updating library/app, and the maintainer isn't keeping up with those updates, the version that goes through experimental then testing and ends up in 'stable' eventually, and while they can call it 'stable', it really isn't. The latest version they have released is now deemed stable, and the one in debian is deprecated.

So, someone finally notices it, and brings it to the attention of the maintainer, and they try to push it through, and fail, since it is too late, and far too many changes have gone by, so debian is stuck with a out dated package.

The end result is, you end up with the latest debian stable release, and end up updating all the packages yourself.

It is annoying to keep telling people that the version in the just released debian is ancient, and they need to update.

Ubuntu is a bit better with their release cycle, and for the most part, it seems to have worked out well for them.

 

[Randybob01]

One more to try.

 

[lxskllr]

This was on reddit...

I have a tiny low-power 500Mhz machine that I use as a router that has been running Debian since 2006. It started out running 3.1 (Sarge) and currently runs 6.0.7 (Squeeze). All of the upgrades have been done over SSH (I haven't connected a monitor to this thing since late-2006) and none have ever failed. It only ever reboots for kernel updates or power outages.

I'd say the parent poster is good to go.

Of course YMMV. Someone, somewhere had a system broken due to upgrade, but Debian goes slow to prevent upgrade problems. If I were running stable, I wouldn't be worried about upgrade.

 

[Chaotic42]

I dist-upgraded my VMWare-d Debian 6 and it got hosed on reboot. I got "error: symbol not found: 'grub_divmod64_full'"

I didn't have anything important on it, so I'll wait for 7 to come out. I hate grub... so very much.

 

[lxskllr]

Wheezy's released :^)

http://www.debian.org/News/2013/20130504

 

[smakme7757]

Wheezy's released :^)

http://www.debian.org/News/2013/20130504

I grabbed a copy today. I'm running Dual boot Ubuntu 13 at the moment, i'm just not sure if Debian will support my laptops hardware.

Either way i'm going to upgrade/migrate my Servers to Wheezy in the next few weeks.

 

[lxskllr]

Ran my first batch of upgrades, and my computer's still working :^D

Nothing too fun yet, but I did get a new Gimp.

 

[TheRyuu]

This is reason enough to upgrade, full stop.

 

[sciencewhiz]

This was on reddit...

I have a tiny low-power 500Mhz machine that I use as a router that has been running Debian since 2006. It started out running 3.1 (Sarge) and currently runs 6.0.7 (Squeeze). All of the upgrades have been done over SSH (I haven't connected a monitor to this thing since late-2006) and none have ever failed. It only ever reboots for kernel updates or power outages.

Of course YMMV. Someone, somewhere had a system broken due to upgrade, but Debian goes slow to prevent upgrade problems. If I were running stable, I wouldn't be worried about upgrade.

That doesn't seem like much. I have a server that's been running since 2001 (potato). It's on the second hardware, but the same SW install. I only had trouble once on an upgrade. It was a fairly uncommon package that went through a major update. It did not take long to fix.